Sunderland signed nine new players during this summer’s transfer window.
Sunderland went into deadline day with just five new signings to their name, and if nobody signed on deadline day, it would’ve made for a quite subdued window on the whole.
But Kristjaan Speakman pulled off an impressive deadline day haul, bringing four new players to the Stadium of Light in Chris Mepham, Salis Abdul Samed, Ahmed Abdullahi, and Milan Aleksic.
It’s given Regis Le Bris a bolstered first-team squad, adding to what’s already been a hugely impressive start to the 2024/25 season.
Sunderland currently sit in 1st place of the Championship table following their 3-1 win vs Portsmouth last time out.
Le Bris and his players now have a weekend out of action for the international break.
It’s a good time to take stock and look back at what’s been a solid start, and figure out how they can keep this momentum going and so on.
It’s also a good time to look back on what was, at times, a very testing summer, with several figures coming under scrutiny.
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Sunderland set transfer records under Kyril Louis-Dreyfus
Sunderland owner Kyril Louis-Dreyfus acquired a controlling stake of the club in 2021.
Since, the club has been promoted from League One, and since the arrival of Speakman in 2020, the club has put together a very exciting first-team, full of potential and full of valuable assets.
And this summer, Louis-Dreyfus showed his ambition along with the club’s progression by setting two new transfer records.
Sunderland made their most expensive signing of the Louis-Dreyfus era, with Aleksic joining for a reported fee of around £3.5million, whilst also making their most expansive player sale of the Louis-Dreyfus era.
Jack Clarke joined Ipswich Town during the summer transfer window for an initial fee of £15million, rising to £20million with add-ons.
But Sunderland will only receive £13.5million for Clarke after taking out Spurs’ sell-on fee.
Kyril Louis-Dreyfus deserves Sunderland praise
During the managerial fiasco earlier this summer, Speakman and Louis-Dreyfus were both coming under widespread scrutiny.
They were taking their time in finding a new manger. But so far, that patience has been rewarded.
And Louis-Dreyfus has continued to show his ambitions for the club with more expensive signings, whilst as showcasing how the club’s transfer strategy is paying dividends, with the sale of Clarke making for a huge profit.
Louis-Dreyfus certainly deserves praise for that, though all the praise right now is going to Le Bris.
Either way, Sunderland are back on the up.