Le Bris has simply unearthed the brand new Lee Cattermole at Sunderland

Sunderland are heading in the right direction to keep away from relegation from the Premier League, partly, due to their wonderful recruitment work within the final summer season switch window.

The headline signing of the window was central midfielder Granit Xhaka for a price of £13m from Bayer Leverkusen, because the vastly-experienced star, arguably, took a step down to affix the membership.

He made 297 appearances for Arsenal earlier than his transfer to Leverkusen, the place he received the Bundesliga below Xabi Alonso, but the Swiss star opted to affix a crew that had simply been promoted from the Championship.

Xhaka has lived as much as the hype on the Stadium of Gentle, scoring one aim and offering 5 assists within the Premier League because the crew’s captain, and is ready to guide the facet to survival.

The Switzerland worldwide may draw comparisons to former Sunderland star Lee Cattermole, who was the midfield linchpin and captain throughout a run of seasons within the top-flight.

Lee Cattermole’s Premier League document at Sunderland

After signing from Wigan Athletic in 2009, the central midfielder made 170 Premier League appearances throughout eight seasons with the Black Cats, avoiding relegation in seven of these campaigns.

Cattermole, although, solely performed eight occasions within the season wherein they had been relegated from the top-flight, attributable to harm, which meant that he didn’t contribute a lot to that relegation.

The English captain was not a flashy, big-money, signing in the identical method that Xhaka was final summer season, so he didn’t get as a lot consideration from the broader media for his performances.

Xhaka, who has earned plaudits from pundits all through the season, is the headline-making star for the Black Cats, however Cattermole quietly went about his enterprise at Sunderland, regardless of being the captain.

So, while there are similarities between the 2 in that they’re each midfield stars and captains, the Swiss expertise shouldn’t be as underrated as the previous Wigan ace was.

How Sunderland’s summer season signing has turn into the brand new Lee Cattermole

There’s one other one among Regis Le Bris‘ summer season signings who higher suits being known as the brand new Lee Cattermole on the Stadium of Gentle than Xhaka does.

The Black Cats paid £10.4m to signal central defender Omar Alderete from Spanish facet Getafe final summer season, which implies that he’s not even of their prime eight costliest signings for the 2025/26 marketing campaign.

In contrast to Xhaka, the Paraguay worldwide didn’t arrive on Wearside as a high-profile signing with huge expectations for his performances for the membership, but he has emerged as an integral member of the squad.

Alderete, who was described as an “absolute monster” by journalist Josh Bunting, has began 26 of his 27 appearances within the Premier League up to now this season for the Black Cats, and delivered spectacular shows in that point.

The skilled 29-year-old defender, who joined with no prior expertise within the Premier League, has largely been a dependable presence on the again for Le Bris, successful 54% of his duels within the division up to now.

Solely 5 gamers within the league, together with Virgil van Dijk and Maxence Lacroix, have accomplished extra clearances than the Sunderland star this season, which speaks to how spectacular his physique of defensive work has been.

Like Cattermole did throughout his time at Sunderland, Alderete is quietly going below the radar as a constant and dependable performer who can do the soiled work that others within the crew might not, leaving the flashy facet of the sport to different gamers.

The Paraguayan star might not go on to be offered for £20m or £30m sooner or later, as he’s not a younger participant with potential, however each crew wants skilled gamers who can ship week-in-week-out with out grabbing headlines.

Alderete is a type of gamers, simply as Cattermole was for Sunderland previously, and Le Bris has hit the jackpot with the 29-year-old central defender due to that.

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