Regis Le Bris did not mess around in the summer transfer window, and as we approach the January market, it’s time to assess how those additions to the Sunderland squad have fared.
Sunderland as a whole have well and truly excelled this season, with the Black Cats fighting it out around the top of the Championship table since day one.
Regis Le Bris deserves a lot of credit for that, as do the incredible young squad he has assembled and nurtured since his arrival in the summer.
While we know Le Bris is more concerned with developing youngsters at Sunderland now, he did bring in a handful of signings in the summer, but not all of them have worked out.
Rating Sunderland’s summer signings halfway through the season
Sunderland signed ten players in the summer, picking up five free transfers, three loan players, and two permanent signings, with the latter being particularly disappointing.
Chris Mepham – 8
The best signing for Sunderland has been Chris Mepham, who arrived on a season-long loan from Premier League side Bournemouth. Mepham has brought experience and composure to a Black Cats backline that have proven very difficult to beat this year.
Sunderland are ‘very lucky’ to have the defensive options they do, but Mepham is a nailed-on starter every week, and will be key to helping the team maintain their promotion push.
Wilson Isidor – 7
Sunderland needed firepower, and for the first few months of the season, it appeared Wilson Isidor would be a prolific striker for the Black Cats. His goalscoring form faded in November, with the Frenchman failing to score for a while.
But, Isidor has still been working hard for the team, offering good hold-up play and movement to bring others into the game. He just needs to get back among the goals soon.
Alan Browne – 7
Injuries have hampered Browne’s progress since his free transfer from Preston in the summer, but he made a strong impact in the middle of the park for Sunderland when he was fit.
Make no mistake, the return of the experienced midfielder will be a big boost to the likes of Chris Rigg and Jobe Bellingham, who can thrive thanks to the stability the Irishman will bring.
Simon Moore – 6
Sunderland don’t really need to worry about the goalkeeper area thanks to the brilliant Anthony Patterson, and as far as deputies go, Simon Moore is very solid indeed.
He’s not played much this season, but Moore kept three clean sheets in a run of four games back in October and early-November, and Le Bris knows he can depend on the veteran if anything happens to Patterson.
Aaron Connolly – 6
Another free agent Sunderland picked up in the summer, Aaron Connolly comes with plenty of experience at this level, and offers something a little different in the forward line. But, he has not really been utilised enough by Le Bris so far, and we hope to see more from him in the New Year and beyond.
Milan Aleksic – 3
Milan Aleksic had a pretty tough debut for Sunderland, missing a huge opportunity to score that cost the team dearly. He’s not really had a look-in since then, and the youngster’s reported £2.9m price tag now looks like a bit of a waste of money.
Ian Poveda – 3
It’s a good job Ian Poveda didn’t cost anything in the summer, because he’s not had anywhere near the desired impact at Sunderland. Injuries are to blame for much of that, but even when he did play, he looked a million miles away from the player the Black Cats thought they were getting.
Injuries have plagued Sunderland’s new arrivals
We simply cannot offer a rating for Ahmed Abdullahi, Blondy Nna Noukeu, and Salis Abdul Samed, as the trio have still yet to play a game for Sunderland since joining in the summer.
Once again, injuries have been the major factor here, but there is hope that Salis Abdul Samed could end up bringing out the best in Sunderland’s midfield stars by allowing Dan Neil to play further up the pitch.
Those with an understanding of French football believe Samed can be an ideal fit for Sunderland, in fact, so here’s hoping the midfielder returns from injury soon and makes an impact in the second half of the campaign.