Blackpool re-sign Embleton on permanent deal

Elliot Embleton (left) was part of the Blackpool side that beat Lincoln City in the League One play-off final in 2021 to clinch promotion to the Championship

Blackpool have signed midfielder Elliot Embleton for an undisclosed fee from Championship club Sunderland.

Embleton has agreed a two-year contract with the Seasiders, with whom he spent a successful loan spell in 2021.

The 25-year-old played 21 times and scored two goals for Blackpool that year as they were promoted from League One in the play-off final at Wembley.

Now he has been reunited with manager Neil Critchley after leaving his boyhood club where he made almost 100 appearances.

"I need to get back playing football and I’ve got such happy memories here, where I feel like I played well and we ultimately ended up getting promoted," he told the club's website.

Blackpool begin their League One campaign away to promoted Crawley Town on Saturday (17:30 BST).

Embleton first joined Sunderland when he was six and made his debut for them as a teenager in 2017.

He was part of the Black Cats side that won the League One play-off final against Wycombe Wanderers in May 2022.

But he picked up an ankle injury in December that year and has only played two games - on loan at Derby County last season - since then.