Looks like decent squaddie level, nothing more. He's going to have to pull up some trees if he wants a permanent deal and that's not a bad thing - extra motivation to perform. But squaddies are nice to have at times like these.
More importantly, he covers 2 positions, gives us options to rest and rotate and keeps Dom in midfield.
Makes a lot of sense.
From Sunderland's perspective, they've got a bloated squad and he's not played much this month, so makes sense for them too.
Reality is in the January loan market you only get a top-drawer player if he has an attitude problem or his club is stacked in his position and needs to save some cash.