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Cardiff City have signed Sunderland striker Fraizer Campbell on a three-and-a-half-year deal.

The Championship leaders are thought to have paid a fee close to £650,000 for the 25-year-old.

Campbell has made 15 appearances during the current campaign, scoring once for the Premier League side, and was out of contract at the end of the season.

Sunderland paid £3.5m for Campbell when they signed him from Manchester United in July 2009.

Bluebirds boss Malky MacKay had been keen to bolster his striking options in the January transfer window, as Cardiff look to build on their 10-point lead at the top of the table.

The Cardiff squad is currently in Dubai for warm-weather training, having departed on Sunday.

Campbell's deal comes after Sunderland made a bid for Swansea City striker Danny Graham on Thursday.

Cardiff lead the Championship by 10 points from Leicester City and Hull City, where Campbell had his most productive spell as a striker in the 2007/08 season, scoring 15 goals in 37 appearances while on loan.

Campbell has been capped once by England, making his senior debut off the bench in a 3-2 friendly loss to the Netherlands in February 2012.

Cardiff's recent good form has been based on a defence which has conceded just two goals in their last five Championship matches.

But they have only scored six times in those matches and Mackay might now have found the final piece of the puzzle that will take his side into the Premier League.