Sunderland have been one of the biggest success stories to come out of the Championship in a long time since they came up to the Premier League last year.
The Black Cats were one of the favourites to get relegated from the division under Regis Le Bris after they needed the play-offs to secure promotion from the second tier in the 2024/25 campaign.
Despite that, they went on to finish seventh in the Premier League and secured Europa League football for the club for the first time in the 21st century.
The secret to their success was what they did in the transfer market during the summer window last year, as they brought in the likes of Granit Xhaka, Brian Brobbey, and Robin Roefs.
Why Sunderland needed to overhaul their squad
Le Bris added 15 players to his first-team squad over the course of that window, although Marc Guiu was quickly recalled by Chelsea, and it was needed because of the transition from the Championship to the Premier League.
They needed to bridge the technical and physical gap between the two divisions and they managed to avoid making the same mistake that some promoted teams make, which is putting too much faith in the players who got them there.
Instead of trusting all the players who performed in the Championship, Sunderland bolstered their squad with a host of new signings and were rewarded for that decision, as the likes of Brobbey, who has scored ten Premier League goals for the club, have impressed.
Not all of the signings made during that overhaul have worked out perfectly. The £27m deal to sign Habib Diarra from Strasbourg, for example, has yet to be proven to be worthwhile.
Why Diarra has struggled at Sunderland
The Senegal international, who is currently sidelined with a hamstring injury, did not enjoy a particularly successful first season in the Premier League with the Black Cats.
Diarra offered the occasional goal contribution, producing two goals and two assists in the division, but his general play in the league was less than impressive.
His work off the ball, in particular, left far too much to be desired. The former Ligue 1 star averaged 0.9 tackles and interceptions per game and lost the majority of his duels on the ground and in the air.
|
25/26 Premier League |
Habib Diarra |
|---|---|
|
Appearances |
20 |
|
Goals |
2 |
|
Assists |
2 |
|
Key passes per game |
0.4 |
|
Tackles per game |
0.7 |
|
Interceptions per game |
0.2 |
|
Ground duel success rate |
45% |
|
Aerial duel success rate |
46% |
Diarra struggled to deal with the intensity and physicality of the Premier League, as evidenced by his dismal defensive statistics, and that is the area of his game that he needs to improve on after returning from his current injury.
How Sunderland made a worse signing than Diarra
Whilst the Senegalese star has not hit the ground running at the Stadium of Light over the past 14 months or so, he is not the biggest midfield flop currently on Wearside.
In the summer of 2024, the Black Cats swooped to sign central midfielder Alan Browne on a free transfer after his contract with Preston North End expired.
The experienced midfield talent failed to establish himself as a regular in the 2024/25 campaign, though, and only scored one goal, against Portsmouth, in 22 appearances in the Championship.
Browne was quickly deemed surplus to requirements as part of the squad overhaul after promotion last year and was sent out on loan to Middlesbrough, where he played 39 times last season.
Boro did not look to bring him back on a permanent or loan basis, though, and the Black Cats were unable to find any alternative suitors for him before the end of the window.
|
Sunderland contracts expiring in 2027 |
|---|
|
Kevin Danso (loan contract) |
|
Reinildo |
|
Alan Browne |
|
Abdoullah Ba |
|
Luke O’Nien |
|
Aji Alese |
|
Simon Moore |
His current contract at the Stadium of Light is due to expire in the summer of 2027, and the Ireland international is currently on course to run down his deal without offering much in the way of value on the pitch.
In fact, the 31-year-old midfielder has only played 11 minutes of football in the 2026/27 campaign after failing to seal a move elsewhere, as he played 11 minutes off the bench against Hull City in the League Cup.
Sunderland are currently being rinsed by the Irishman, who is earning £15k-per-week, because he is earning a weekly wage without featuring in a single matchday squad in the league this season.
Browne has been an even bigger flop than Diarra for the Black Cats because he has offered even less on the pitch and was deemed not good enough after just 12 months at the club.
Diarra, meanwhile, still has time left ahead of him to make a success of his spell on Wearside, whilst Browne needs to be moved on when the January transfer window opens for business.
