Ben McKevitt says… Enzo Le Fée!
What does a hard-working, defensively solid Sunderland team which is slightly lacking in creativity need when trying to escape the clutches of the Championship?
Well, a French midfield magician of course. Enter Enzo Le Fée. I may just be his biggest fan but I think it’s completely fair to say that Sunderland are not Premier League without Enzo Le Fée; we weren’t to know it at the time, but Le Bris’s links to the youth team at Lorient would be, for me, the defining factor in our promotion.
It would
be disingenuous to say that our fortunes massively changed upon his arrival but his sprinkles of magic can be found all over the first half of 2025. The torture of Boro, the link-up with Wilson, the work rate he showed despite dropping down the level. It all built towards the climactic play-off campaign wherein he dumped all the remaining magic dust into three final games.
Who played the inch-perfect through-ball to Wilson in the semis? Who relentlessly pressured Van Ewijk in the 90th minute into playing Mayenda through 1v1? Who kissed the ball before sending it onto Ballard’s head for the biggest eruption the North East has seen? It’s Le Fée for them all. His fingerprints are all over the scenes that defined our return. (That’s not even considering his left-back graft against Coventry or playing through Roberts before Mayenda’s equaliser at Wembley.)
There’s no single player that had that level of influence over each defining moment in the matches that mattered most; by the end of the season, it was missing out on his £20m permanent move that was one of my biggest fears in case of failure at Wembley.
It was a huge leap of faith from Enzo at that point which is easy to look back on and think it was always going to pan out for us all, but Enzo had just been signed for Italian giants Roma for £20m and wasn’t far off consideration for the French national team. And so for him to demonstrate complete trust in both Le Bris and the project was a huge risk despite his lack of playing time in Rome.
The fact that we had such a wonderful footballer in the second tier still blows my mind and to see the level that he’s currently operating at in the Premier League is no shock considering the brilliance he demonstrated at times last year. Long may it last — he’s an absolute joy to watch and we’re all winners in this story.
Ian Bendelow says… Amad Diallo!
There’s only two people in life I call “My Sweet Prince” – my little boy and Amad Diallo.
This was a signing which was a bit of a precursor to the Speakman/KLD rabbit-out-a-hat trick we became accustomed to with the likes of Enzo Le Fee and Granit Xhaka in the seasons to come.
Amad’s arrival at the SoL bought lukewarm reviews from Rangers fans, and a not-insignificant price tag that many of the United fans had started to question – big time. We should not have worried, though, as after a slowish start Uncle Tony Mowbray gradually got the best out of our lovely Ivorian winger. What followed was strike after strike after strike by a man who knew quite clearly he was a step above the second tier. Frankly, he took the absolute proverbial out of many a Championship jobber.
What it did for us as fans was make us realise this is a club that can attract the bigger players once more, and that here we had a side that could bridge the gap between League One and the Championship. But it was more than that, it enabled us to look towards the potential of a return to the top flight, and that we shouldn’t be overawed by the division.
Although the following season didn’t exactly pan out the way we wanted, Amad’s blossoming in a Sunderland shirt, and subsequent development into arguably our best player was a clear sales pitch to any other potential stars of the future – and possibly helped to pave the way for Jobe’s arrival the summer after he departed.
Our greatest ever loan signing? I’d say so – and I pine for his return one day.
Martin Wanless says… Kristjaan Speakman!
There are loads of signings you could make a strong case for being most impactful since our relegation to League One, and each have their merits.
How do you judge it? The difference made over the long term, or the literal ‘impact’ made. There are loads of possibilities. Would we go up from League One without the goals of Ross Stewart? Or the management of Alex Neil? Would the culture have changed without Luke O’Nien being there? Would we have emerged from the Championship without the tactical nous of Régis Le Bris, and would we be having a good Premier League season without signing Granit Xhaka.
I’m going for a left-field one to some extent — and that’s Kristjaan Speakman. He arrived at the club at probably our lowest ebb. Post Parky. And while of course he’s had the backing of the ownership (who could have been another shout, but they bought us rather than us signing them!) to carry out his work the transformation the club has undergone subsequently is seismic. He’s come in for some criticism over the years — ironically enough for the things he’s being praised for now. Not overspending and not panicking in transfer windows has enabled us to spend well when we’ve gone up. The steadfast dedication to the ever-evolving model has been admirable; in an emotional game he’s stuck to his guns and ignored the noise. Without Speakman, there’s no Jobe. Without selling Jobe, do we have the same leverage in the transfer market last summer. KLD has provided the money and the environment for players and staff to succeed, however without Speakman who knows how that transpires. You only have to look around at other clubs to see getting the off-the-field stuff isn’t easy — look up the road for a textbook ‘how to waste money’. Not only have we spent well on ability, but we’ve also spent well on attitude. We’ve continually brought in good characters, and that’s no accident. Of course there’s been mistakes along the way, but the trajectory of the club has been consistently heading to the top right ever since his arrival. So Speakman gets my vote — because without him, so many of the names that will surely get mentioned in response to this simply may not happen.
Anth Gair says… Luke O’Nien!
I’m going for Luke O’Nien.
Before his arrival at the club, we had a team of players who couldn’t give two shiny pennies (see how I held back on the language? You’re welcome) about our magnificent football club, and it being at its lowest point in its history.
I’d wager that without Luke O’Nien, we probably would have struggled to get out of League One, let alone the Championship.
His attitude has picked Sunderland up at its lowest ebb, bled in the young lads and made them feel welcome, whilst still letting them know how important it is to be a Sunderland player. I’d imagine that his leadership saw training sessions become more intense, saw players try harder than they’d ever try before to play in front of the fans, and it’s led to us flying high in the Premier League.
It would be easy to pick Xhaka, wouldn’t it? I’m not doing that though.
Luke O’Nien is the most important signing at this club for the past 10 years.
Ian Bendelow says…
There’s only two people in life I call “My Sweet Prince” — my little boy and Amad Diallo.
This was a signing which was a bit of a precursor to the Speakman/KLD rabbit-out-a-hat trick we became accustomed to with the likes of Enzo Le Fée and Granit Xhaka in the seasons to come.
Amad’s arrival at the SOL brought lukewarm reviews from Rangers fans, and a not-insignificant price tag that many of the United fans had started to question — big time. We should not have worried, though, as after a slowish start Uncle Tony Mowbray gradually got the best out of our lovely Ivorian winger. What followed was strike after strike after strike by a man who knew quite clearly he was a step above the second tier. Frankly, he took the absolute proverbial out of many a Championship jobber.
What it did for us as fans was make us realise this is a club that can attract the bigger players once more, and that here we had a side that could bridge the gap between League One and the Championship. But it was more than that; it enabled us to look towards the potential of a return to the top flight, and that we shouldn’t be overawed by the division.
Although the following season didn’t exactly pan out the way we wanted, Amad’s blossoming in a Sunderland shirt, and subsequent development into arguably our best player was a clear sales pitch to any other potential stars of the future — and possibly helped to pave the way for Jobe’s arrival the summer after he departed.
Our greatest ever loan signing? I’d say so — and I pine for his return one day.
Malc Dugdale says… Enzo Le Fée!
I have to go for the signing who signified a step change in the class of player we had the ability to attract.
The midfield magician that is Enzo Le Fée.
When we signed Enzo in the January window of our final Championship campaign, the whole footballing stratosphere went mad. They could not believe it and we couldn’t either. What on earth was this footballing genius doing at our place in division two? It was criminal. A cheat code. Simply not fair.
For me he was the deal that showed we were a force to be reckoned with in the scouting and recruitment market, with the combination of our owner, this recruitment team and this gaffer making it possible.
His contributions since speak volumes. The kiss of the ball and the cross for big Dan and those limbs I was part of behind that goal.
More recently the panenka that went wrong and the ability to rebound with aplomb.
The graft, craft and effort he puts in to not only out-skill but out-tackle players who he has no right to embarrass either in trickery or physicality.
Enzo was the start of the new era, and without him we may never have gone on to other signings like Sadiki, Xhaka, Diarra, Brobbey and now Angulo.
I know this question goes back to League One, but in terms of banishing the past and looking up and ahead, Enzo is the man.
Simple as that.
John Wilson says… Granit Xhaka!
It may be everyone’s obvious pick — because it’s true! Granit Xhaka has to be the most significant signing of this season, last season or any season! There have been many an eye-catching statement signing in our illustrious past: Brian Clough, Jim Baxter, Claudio Marangoni, Stefan Schwarz, Steed Malbranque, Jack Rodwell, Darren Bent, Tore Andre Flo, Fabio Borini etc — some were a success, some were abject failures. None of the above had the impact, or elevated the club into the national (and international) conscience, like Granit Xhaka.
Of course building blocks are needed in any structuring process. Everyone that helped us out from League One, and then out of the Championship — love, thanks and praise will forever be in the history books and in our memories. But Granit Xhaka!? Once we’d clawed our way back into the Premier League, it was his signing that catapulted us immediately away from any relegation or struggling teams discussion. It was never going to happen. It’s almost certain that other players came to the club on his say so, or because he had signed.
What an audacious coup! Our young and forward-thinking owner went out himself in his private jet to show our desire and commitment to getting him on Wearside. He has since said that everyone needs to feel wanted. As the video reel which features Granit before kick-off says — ‘This, is home… Ha’way the lads’. He has bought into the club and the ethos and the area. Hopefully, he has been promised a future here after his playing career, as a coach. I haven’t met him, but you can just tell that the man has charisma and a presence and a footballing intelligence above normal souls. If Xhaka walks into a room, you’d sit up and listen. The story of him giving Riggy a talking to for messing on in training. How Wilson Isidor said players apologised to him in training if there was a stray pass. You don’t mess with Granit.
At 6ft 1in, born in 1992, capped 143 times for Switzerland and had over 463 appearances for various clubs — he is technically gifted, a natural leader, and he is ours. He maybe didn’t get us into the Premier League, but he will keep us there, he will attract others, and he will be the cornerstone to elevate us way above what we could have hoped for 7 or 8 years ago.
On the pitch, he orchestrates. He is the ring master. He isn’t an acrobat, he’s not a trapeze artist or a strong man, a clown or riding on the back of a horse. Leave that to the wingers and tough defenders. But he is a fire eater, a lion tamer, a juggler and the ring master — and he’s ours. Some could argue the best signing we’ve ever made.
I’ll leave that one to the historians, but at £13 million — he was an absolute snip, and hopefully we’ll enjoy his orchestration for many more seasons.
