Wilson Isidor made his debut yesterday as Sunderland claimed three points against Portsmouth.
The forward arrived from Zenit St Petersburg with a week left of the transfer window and was presented to the supporters ahead of their win over Burnley.
Isidor was then included in Sunderland’s match-day squad to travel to Fratton Park and was brought onto replace Patrick Roberts in the second half.
The Frenchman looked lively alongside fellow debutant Ian Poveda, completing 100% of his passes and 100% of his dribbles, as well as winning two ground duels and one tackle.
Eliezer Mayenda’s ‘excellent’ performances in recent weeks are likely to keep Isidor out of the team for now, but that hasn’t stopped the 24-year-old from very quickly setting in on Wearside.
Isidor has already shown his support for Sunderland on social media following his arrival, while he has now been spotted chatting to fans and getting pictures outside a service station on the way back from Portsmouth.
He can be seen with a huge smile on his face as supporters embrace him, cheering about Sunderland being ‘top of the league’.
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Sunderland fans show Isidor some love
It wasn’t long before fans online were also showing their support for Isidor, with many having high hopes for his time at the Stadium of Light.
Wilson Isidor early analysis
It’s hard to take much from Isidor’s debut, but one thing that fans will have noticed is that he played out wide.
There were question marks over where he would be deployed after Sunderland failed to bring in another forward, but it could well have just been because Mayenda was playing so well that Regis Le Bris didn’t want to take him off.
The Rennes academy product is going to have to work his socks off to get into the team now, but there certainly good signs, and his personality undoubtedly fits right in.
He seems to love it here after not even playing a half of football, so who knows what he will be like if he gets a decent run in the team.