After Wilson Isidor applied the gloss to Sunderland’s 1-3 away victory over Everton on Sunday, slotting the ball neatly into the bottom corner of the Toffees’ goal after a swift attack and potentially confidence-boosting assist from Habib Diarra, there was almost as much focus on his ‘cupped ear’ celebration as there was on the goal itself and the importance of the victory.
Who was it directed towards, and what was the significance of it? Was the World Cup-bound Haiti striker sending a message to the Everton
supporters, the travelling Lads’ fans, the Sunderland hierarchy — or perhaps all three?
It was a classic Isidor goal; an unerring finish towards the end of a game and it proved that for the time being at least, Sunderland do have a viable and exciting alternative to Brian Brobbey on hand, a striker that can add something different and can also affect a game enormously when on form.
Given his unique attributes and fearless on-field attitude, Régis Le Bris’ decision to anoint the Dutch striker as our leading marksman is inarguable, and his own contribution on Sunday was notable as he forced James Tarkowski to attempt Booker T’s ‘Spinarooney’ before crashing the ball past Jordan Pickford, but Isidor has chipped in with some key goals of his own this season and could scarcely have chosen a more opportune moment to remind everyone of his ability.
Somewhat unhelpfully, Isidor’s future has been at the centre of plenty of speculation during the second half of the season.
Rumours of a potential Sunderland departure have seldom been far from the discussion and there have been times — particularly during the away clash with Leeds — when I felt as though he was perhaps headed for the exit amid what appeared to be sub-par performances and some worrying body language.
However, I remain a huge fan of the flamboyant forward and if there’s one thing his goals against Everton and Aston Villa showed, it’s that there is a promising Premier League striker there, and I can’t help but feel that were Sunderland to let him go, we may come to regret it further down the line.
His equaliser at Villa Park, exploding onto a defence-splitter from Enzo Le Fée and finishing smartly, was a classic example, and who’s to say he couldn’t do that on a semi-regular basis for a rival team if given the appropriate standard of service?
It’s true that his hold-up play and physical strength aren’t on a par with Brobbey, but his pace, movement and eye for goal more than compensate for that — a nice balance, in my opinion.
Furthermore, it would be easy to declare “Sell Isidor for a chunky fee and just replace him”, but could being forced to dip into the market for a replacement when we already have a very talented striker on hand be slightly misguided — especially given the lack of genuine top quality centre forwards currently floating around and that may be in our price range?
Isidor was signed for an extremely modest fee and he’s been a real favourite ever since he joined Sunderland in 2024, with his array of spectacular strikes, exuberant personality and obvious love for the game being reciprocated by Lads’ fans at home and away.
The argument that he’s a more ‘natural’ finisher than Brobbey is an interesting one but given that Brobbey was essentially two months behind when he arrived, I think he’s done a fine job this season and when you throw the highly promising if slightly underused Eliezer Mayenda into the mix, you’re looking at a very good, extremely exciting trio of forwards.
Would we be well-advised to keep all three, rotate them when necessary and ensure that they all feel as though they’ll have roles to play during 2026/2027?
It mightn’t be the easiest dilemma for Le Bris to potentially have to grapple with, but Sunderland do need to add more goals next season and whether that’s in the shape of reinforcements or by persisting with Isidor, Brobbey and Mayenda (hopefully aided and abetted by more productive wing play and Le Fée continuing to pull the strings), surely working with what we’ve got and augmenting it rather than dismantling and rebuilding would be a better strategy.
Isidor strikes me as the kind of footballer that needs to feel as much love and appreciation as possible in order to perform at his best.
The stoic, no-nonsense Le Bris might not be one of the Premier League’s most notable ‘arm around the shoulder’ types, but the fans have certainly taken Isidor to their hearts. I’d love to think that, for one more season at least, he’ll remain a Sunderland player, appreciate the need for the entire squad to play their part, and to continue to deliver the goods when he’s called upon.
We’d miss him if he left. I hope he doesn’t leave.
