EUROPEAN Championship winner Angelos Charisteas has given Sunderland the green light in their attempts to sign him for the second half of the season.

Charisteas, who scored a dramatic second-half winner as Greece beat Portugal in the final of Euro 2004, has spent most of this season rotting in the reserves at Dutch club Ajax.

After failing to make the squad for this week's Champions League win over Sparta Prague, the 25-year-old striker has told his employers he would like to leave Amsterdam in order to secure regular first-team football.

That has alerted Mick McCarthy, who has been tracking both Charisteas and his Ajax team-mate, Ioannis Anastasiou, for the last two months.

Despite recalling Chris Brown from Hull yesterday, the Black Cats boss is desperate to bolster his attacking ranks when the transfer window re-opens at the start of January.

Sunderland are expected to make formal contact with Charisteas in the next seven days in an attempt to seal a loan deal that would last until the end of the season.

The former Weder Bremen striker has scored 14 goals in 45 games for Greece, and his international expertise would greatly benefit a Sunderland strikeforce that has scored 12 league goals this season.

The club's lack of firepower was graphically illustrated yesterday when McCarthy cut short Brown's loan deal at Hull.

The 20-year-old, who made 37 appearances as the Black Cats clinched the Championship title last season, was expected to remain at the KC Stadium until the end of December.

Instead, he will be catapulted into the Sunderland squad that will face relegation rivals Birmingham tomorrow, with McCarthy insisting he has not brought him back to Wearside simply to make up the numbers.

"Chris will be in the squad," said the Sunderland manager. "I watched him play against Southampton on Tuesday night and was impressed. We've had him watched about half a dozen times.

"He's certainly benefited from being at Hull. The competitive side of his game has improved because he's been playing in games that really mean something. There are points at stake, and that's a big difference to playing in reserve games.

"I've also brought Chris back because Stephen Elliott's got a bad back. I'm concerned about him because it's something that's bothered him before.

"As anyone who has suffered from a back problem will know, it's not particularly nice. It seems to affect everything else as well."

Brown's arrival on the deadline day for Football League loan deals was accompanied by two departures from the Stadium of Light.

Striker Daryl Murphy has joined League One strugglers Sheffield Wednesday on a two-month loan, while midfielder Carl Robinson has joined Norwich for a similar period, with a view to a permanent transfer.

Despite missing just six league games in the whole of last season, Robinson has managed only three Premiership starts as McCarthy has preferred the defensive strength of Christan Bassila.

The Wales international was a key figure in Sunderland's promotion campaign and leaves Wearside having made 59 appearances.

"It's good to have Carl at the club," said Norwich boss Nigel Worthington. "He is a good footballer who is capable of scoring a goal, as he has proved against us."

Robinson's departure helps to ease some of the congestion in central midfield, although McCarthy still has to find a place for Bassila, Dean Whitehead and Tommy Miller, all of whom would prefer to play in a central role.

Whitehead was shuffled to the right of midfield last weekend and, while he netted a last-minute penalty, he was not as effective as he had been in previous weeks.

McCarthy has been criticised for playing one of his most consistent players out of position, but maintains that Whitehead can inflict damage in a wider role.

"Where did Dean Whitehead play against Middlesbrough?' he asked. "Yes, that's right, he played on the right of midfield.

"Tommy Miller played centrally, got forward and scored, Christian Bassila played alongside him and sat more defensively and Deano played on the right and was outstanding.

"That was our best performance of the season and it was the same midfield as we played against Aston Villa."

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