It’s been quite the rollercoaster 2025 to be a Sunderland supporter.
At the start of the long year, Regis Le Bris’ men were dreaming about an unbelievable promotion back up to the Premier League, with that then becoming a reality in May, courtesy of a dramatic playoff final win at Wembley.
Fast forward to December, too, and Sunderland had a lot to be merry for over Christmas, with Le Bris’ underdogs occupying a tremendous sixth position in the league rankings currently, having dropped £162m on a plethora of new recruits in the summer, to help bridge the tricky gap between the second tier and the top-flight.
£13m of that expenditure was splashed out on the services of Granit Xhaka, with the ex-Arsenal man the heartbeat of everything going swimmingly at the Stadium of Light so far.
Why Xhaka is fast becoming a Sunderland icon
Sky Sports’ Jamie Carragher has even lauded him as the “signing of the season” in the Premier League, with Micah Richards also hailing him as a “warrior” after he put in a combative shift in the Tyne-Wear Derby.
Indeed, for just £13m, Sunderland have won themselves a star who has played at the very top of both the English and German game. It shows in his calming, yet authoritative approach to proceedings.
The forceful number 34 has undoubtedly pushed the Black Cats into becoming an extremely tough side to break down after promotion, winning 5.3 duels per game on average this season, resulting in the Premier League newcomers only leaking 17 goals.
Xhaka wasn’t fazed whatsoever by the bright lights of Anfield at the start of December, even when coming up against the likes of Ryan Gravenberch, with his natural leadership instincts seeing him block four shots, and win a combined four tackles and duels, to seal a share of the points.
With one goal and four assists also next to his name in league action, Sunderland must wonder how they managed to tempt Xhaka back to the Premier League, with the £13m deal going down as an outrageous masterstroke.
That said, he continues to be outperformed by a former Black Cat.
£65m star is even better than Xhaka after leaving
While 2025 will go down as a blockbuster year to be a Black Cats fan, 2020 was a far bleaker time to hold allegiances to the Stadium of Light, as the sleeping giants failed to break out of League One.
However, although many faces in these Sunderland squads have now been swiftly forgotten about, AFC Bournemouth superstar Antoine Semenyo temporarily pulled on the famous red and white stripes when third-tier football was on the menu, having been loaned out to Wearside from parent employers Bristol City.
Semenyo would never spark into life during Sunderland’s troubling League One stint, scoring no goals and failing to register an assist from seven forgettable outings during the 2019/20 season.
But, just one season on from his short-lived spell with the Black Cats, the Ghana international would finally click back at the Robins, with 11 goal contributions during the 2020/21 campaign setting him on the path to Premier League stardom, with his Cherries attacking teammate in Justin Kluivert even heralding him as “world-class” earlier this year.
Semenyo vs Xhaka in 2025/26
Stat – per 90 mins*
Semenyo
Xhaka
Games played
16
17
Goals scored
8
1
Assists
3
4
Ball recoveries*
5.1
4.2
Total duels won*
6.8
5.2
Stats by Sofascore
Of course, the above comparison does feel slightly strange, considering Xhaka is a holding midfielder, while the Liverpool-linked star is an attacker all across the forward positions.
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Yet, when looking at the table above, it’s clear that Semenyo has blossomed into a talent that even eclipses the 34-year-old at his Sunderland best, with the much-talked-about number 24 boasting a stunning 11 goal contributions for the season, from 16 league games.
Only Bruno Fernandes and Erling Haaland are capable of flexing more goal contributions in the Premier League this campaign, with Semenyo amazingly amassing these devastating numbers for a side that is below Xhaka’s Sunderland in the standings.
He will soon have his pick of the top-flight’s elite as his new onward destination, you imagine, with £65m looking like a fair fee to part ways with, if you’re the likes of Liverpool, Chelsea, and Tottenham Hotspur who want some extra star dust in attack.
It should not be understated how much of an impact Xhaka has had at Sunderland in such a short space of time, but as the Basel-born monster continues to wind down his career gracefully, Semenyo has so much more to give, five years on from a brief loan stint on Wearside.
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