Sunderland have laughed off the doom mongers who pointed out the fact that the last six teams to earn promotion to the Premier League have all been instantly relegated.
The Black Cats are, remarkably, sixth in the top-flight after 13 games, ahead of Man United and Liverpool, after a 3-2 win over Bournemouth at the Stadium of Light on Saturday.
Summer signing Granit Xhaka was, once again, vital with an impressive assist for Bertrand Traore’s goal, in what has been a phenomenal season for the Swiss star so far.
Where Granit Xhaka ranks among Sunderland's summer signings
Sunderland paid £13m to sign the experienced midfielder from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer, and they have got their money’s worth from the left-footed star in the Premier League.
With 297 games for Arsenal under his belt, per Transfermarkt, the Black Cats knew what they were going to get from Xhaka as a proven performer in the top-flight.
The 33-year-old star has delivered one goal and four assists, per Sofascore, whilst winning 63% of his defensive duels across 13 appearances in the Premier League this season, which shows that he has made an impact in and out of possession.
1
Robin Roefs
2
Granit Xhaka
3
Nordi Mukiele
4
Noah Sadiki
5
Omar Alderete
As you can see in the table above, we have ranked him as the second-best signing made by the Black Cats in the summer, only behind the incredibly impressive Robin Roefs, who leads the league in goals prevented (3.28), per Sofascore.
Xhaka has stepped straight into the team as a regular starter and shown that he can be relied upon week-in-week-out, like Roefs has, which is why he has been one of the best signings made for Regis Le Bris’ team.
Whilst Sunderland should be delighted with their current position and the signing of Xhaka, they once had a star on loan who is now even more exciting than the Swiss ace and is one of the best players in the Premier League.
The Sunderland loanee who is now one of the Premier League's best
In January 2020, Antoine Semenyo signed for the club on loan from Bristol City for the second half of the season, and manager Phil Parkinson cited his “pace and power” as two of his main attributes.
Appearances
7
Starts
1
Goals
0
Key passes per game
0.4
Big chances created
1
Assists
0
Unfortunately, as shown in the table above, the Black Cats loanee was unable to use his pace and power to cause many problems for opposition defences, as he ended his time on Wearside without a single goal contribution.
After that, Semenyo went on to establish himself at Bristol City in the Championship before a permanent move in January 2023 to Bournemouth, which is where he has flourished in the Premier League.
The same player who struggled in League One with Sunderland has now scored 17 goals and provided nine assists in the top-flight for the Cherries since the start of last season, per Transfermarkt, which shows that he has been effective as both a scorer and a creator of goals.
In the Premier League this season, only Erling Haaland (15) and Igor Thiago (11) have more combined goals and assists than Semenyo (nine), per FotMob, which is an impressive statistic when you consider that he plays out wide.
Earlier this term, former Spurs and England star Chris Waddle dubbed Semenyo “the best winger in the country (England) right now”, and that still rings true, as he has at least two more goal contributions than any other winger in the top-flight, per FotMob.
This is why he is currently an even better and more exciting player than Xhaka, because the Ghana international has, statistically, been one of the most impactful players in the league with goals and assists to earn his team points.
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He may not have shown his potential during his brief time at the Stadium of Light, but it is clear to see, now, that Semenyo would be the club’s best player on current form.