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Sunderland striker Aaron Connelly has admitted he could not be happier to be at the club and in the Black Cats environment.

The Republic of Ireland international joined the Black Cats on a free transfer towards the end of September and penned a one-year deal.

Connolly has had a problem with alcohol addiction and revealed he was in rehab in the summer after he was released by Hull City.

The 24-year-old explained he told his agent not to contact him as he looked to get a grip of his alcohol issue, which had led to his life becoming ‘unmanageable’.

“My life was so unmanageable. I couldn’t control my alcohol. It got to a point where I had to make a decision that I needed to go to a treatment clinic”, he explained to Sunderland’s official site.

“I told my agent not to contact any clubs. I wasn’t doing this for football. I was doing this so I could get my life back.

“It wasn’t even the football that was taking the biggest battering, but my relationships, my family, my friends. Everything was failing and falling apart. I couldn’t get hold of my addiction.

“It was the toughest thing I’ve ever had to do to go in there. It was the best and worst month of my life. I learned so much in there.”

Now Connolly feels he is in a good place at Sunderland, with the right environment, and is hugely happy.

“After the last few months, it’s great to just be back playing football.

“To be around a good group of people, good gaffer, good coaching staff, good people and to have a football at my feet, I couldn’t be any happier.”

There were plenty comings and goings at the Stadium of Light with four new players arriving on deadline day alone.