Sunderland fans are on cloud nine right now, with the club flying high in the league and closing in on a huge signing.
Under Regis Le Bris, the Black Cats have made immense progress on last year’s disappointing 16th-placed finish and are firmly involved in the title race as things stand.
The latest transfer talk around Sunderland is that Enzo Le Fee will join the club on a loan deal until the end of the season, which is considered a huge coup for the Mackems.
Indeed, the fact Sunderland now look set to snap up such an exciting talent just shows how far the club has come since the dark days of life in League One.
Lyle Taylor blames ‘wishy washy’ Sunderland hierarchy for failed transfer
Looking back, comments made by Lyle Taylor (shared by Michael Graham on Twitter/X), who was a target for the Black Cats in the summer of 2018 but opted to sign for Charlton Athletic instead, offers a startling condemnation of how the previous Sunderland owners did things at the club.
Taylor said: “I went up to Sunderland and met the manager. I saw the facilities and it’s a hell of a club… but there were things said and done by those above [Jack Ross] that ended up being why I didn’t go there and ended up playing for Charlton and not Sunderland.
“At Charlton, the club were clear with everything… ‘Here’s the deal, if you like it, sign it, if you don’t, don’t sign it’. But at Sunderland, it was wishy washy. We asked for something during negotiations and they said, ‘We can’t give you that because if you don’t do it, will you pay us the money back?'”
Taylor slammed the process as not befitting of how “professional football works,” and cited the negativity and “quibbling” of the Sunderland hierarchy as the key reason he rejected their offer.
In the end, Taylor, a free agent at the time having just left AFC Wimbledon, decided to “take less money” at Charlton. He added: “I probably would have signed for the manager, but the powers that be were ridiculously stubborn.”
The new regime at Sunderland is showing key signs of ambition
Now, the difference could not be anymore stark under the leadership of Kyril Louis-Dreyfus and Kristjaan Speakman.
With Le Bris putting Sunderland on track for promotion, the club’s owner and sporting director are clearly looking to do everything they can to match that ambition.
Louis-Dreyfus and Speakman have been praised for pushing ahead with a deal for Enzo Le Fee early this month, a player who cost Roma £19m last summer and who is set to cost Sunderland around £69k per week throughout his loan spell.
The whole transfer policy at Sunderland has changed, for the better, and clearly it is paying dividends on the pitch, too. Now, we just have to wait and see what else they can pull out of the bag this month.