Sunderland AFC’s diversity is a real strength

Photo by Ian Horrocks/Sunderland AFC via Getty Images

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As I wrote last week, Sunderland are currently embarking on a process of evolution the likes of which most of us have never seen.

The fees being spent on new signings are certainly notable after years of calculated frugality, but more than that, it’s the sheer scope of our recruitment that’s really caught my eye so far.

With Kristjaan Speakman and newly-appointed director of football Florent Ghisolfi tasked with building a side that can give us a chance of being competitive for 2025/2026, our summer

recruitment has been decisive and focused, continuing the theme of Sunderland AFC becoming a more forward-thinking club than we’ve ever been.

Photo by Ian Horrocks/Sunderland AFC via Getty Images

When he makes his Premier League debut for the Lads, experienced defender Reinildo Mandava will make history by becoming the first Mozambican to play in the English top flight.

In midfield, Habib Diarra (who notched up an assist during his first run out for the Lads at South Shields) is a highly-regarded Senegal international.

DR Congo’s Noah Sadiki arrived with a stellar reputation at Union Saint Gilloise, and our most recent arrival in former Brighton winger Simon Adingra has made a huge impact for the Ivory Coast, clocking up two assists and a ‘man of the match’ award in the 2023 African Cup of Nations final.

As I look at our squad, I can’t help but feel a great deal of pride when I see a club stalwart such as Luke O’Nien’s name alongside that of a player who gave England the runaround in a recent friendly, and although Amad’s iconic loan spell during the 2022/2023 season was all too brief, we really could be onto something now.

It’s not an overstatement to suggest that some of the most influential, skilful and iconic players in Premier League history were of African heritage, and it should be viewed as a very exciting development that so many of the potential stars of tomorrow are opting to make the switch to the Stadium of Light.

Iconic former Arsenal skipper Patrick Vieira — a World Cup and Euro 2000-winning French international — was born in the Senegalese capital of Dakar and proved to be one of the Gunners’ most inspired signings during a trophy-laden spell at Highbury.

Photo by John Marsh/EMPICS via Getty Images

Elsewhere, Kolo and Yaya Toure — the latter of whom’s 2013/2014 season for Manchester City was one of the most dominant I’ve ever seen from a midfielder in an English team — were natives of the Ivory Coast, as was powerhouse former Chelsea forward Didier Drogba, and of course, the iconic Liverpool duo of Mohamed Salah and the now-departed Sadio Mane have represented Egypt and Senegal with distinction for years.

Suffice it to say, the quality and prestige of the Premier League has benefited tremendously from the presence of such players, with their impact enormous and their reputations at their former clubs secured for all time.

Now, I’m not for a moment suggesting that our crop of new signings are guaranteed to become superstars, but given that we’re attempting to break a recent cycle of newly-promoted sides going straight back down, nobody could accuse the club hierarchy of thinking on a small-time basis.

I’ve long been of the belief that Sunderland’s approach under Speakman and arguably set to be developed further by Ghisolfi has been based on Arsène Wenger’s ideal: “We don’t buy superstars, we make them”.

Photo by Alex Dodd - CameraSport via Getty Images

This was a methodology that saw Nicolas Anelka purchased for £500,000 before being sold to Real Madrid for £22 million, and was indirectly replicated closer to home by Jobe’s high-profile switch from Birmingham City to Sunderland and then to Borussia Dortmund.

By bringing together a group of promising individuals, getting them plugged into the ‘Sunderland way’ and giving their talent the platform to thrive — albeit in the knowledge that they may be sold on and replaced at some stage — we seem to have adopted a similar approach and despite fears about how departures for next year’s AFCON tournament may affect us, the club will most likely have a plan for that, too.

All told, this is a very exciting way of building a top flight squad, and if these lads settle on Wearside and can make an impact in red and white, it’ll give further credence to the maxim that “Diversity is strength” — which can only be viewed as a very positive thing.

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