Aitor Karanka has hinted he would like to sign Danny Graham to a permanent contract, but much depends on Gus Poyet's plans
Action Images / John Rushworth 
Danny Graham celebrates scoring his second goal
Danny Graham would be happy to agree a long-term deal with Boro but admits he has “unfinished business” with Sunderland.
Aitor Karanka signed the 28-year-old striker on loan for the remainder of the season on transfer deadline day and has hinted he would like to sign him to a permanent contract in the summer.
However, much will depend on Sunderland boss Gus Poyet’s plans for 2014/15.
If Sunderland are relegated, Graham could well find himself central to the Italian’s first team plans.
But if the Wearside club avoid the drop, the Geordie striker’s future is likely to lie elsewhere.
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So would Graham be open to staying with Boro beyond the end of the current season? “Yes, I would,” he told the BBC.
“It’s a fantastic club who gave me a chance in football, but I still think I’ve got unfinished business at Sunderland.
“There’s a new manager there now and I want to go back there in the summer and see where I stand.
“Until then I don’t know what’s going to happen, so I’ve got to get my head down, work hard in the off season and see what comes of it.”
Sunderland paid Swansea £5m for Graham in January 2013 but, within weeks of the transfer, manager Martin O’Neill was sacked.
His replacement, Paulo Di Canio, kept the club in the Premier League but decided Graham wouldn’t be part of his plans for the following season and allowed him to join Hull City on loan.
Di Canio was sacked following a disastrous start to the campaign with Poyet replacing him.
Graham admits it has been an unsettling 12 months.
“Martin O’Neill was there and I think I only got five or six weeks with him then he was out the door and Paulo Di Canio came in,” he said. “He did his job, got us safe and that was the main objective for the club.
“In pre-season I was the fittest I’ve ever been and then he said I had to go out on loan, but that’s football, you take your highs with your lows and just get on with it.”
Boro tried to sign Graham on January deadline day 2013, agreeing a player plus cash deal with Swansea, but the player had set his heart on joining Sunderland.
A year later they finally got their man, who said: “The gaffer showed a lot of faith in me and hopefully I can repay him. As soon as I spoke to him I wanted to come here.
“I’m comfortable at Middlesbrough. I feel happy and I’m enjoying my football again which is the main thing.”
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