All Sunderland supporters undoubtedly breathed a sigh of relief when it was revealed that Granit Xhaka had decided to remain at the Stadium of Light for next season.
After Xabi Alonso signed a contract with Chelsea this summer, there were fears the Swiss international could leave the club.
The Premier League giants even made an offer of £8m to sign the veteran midfielder, but the offer was so low that it was rejected and branded an “insult”.
Xhaka then decided to turn down Chelsea’s offer because he wanted to remain in the Regis Le Bris squad, ending Alonso’s pursuit of the former Bayer Leverkusen star.
The 33-year-old central midfielder will now be able to focus on leading the Black Cats to the Premier League and Europa League as captain next season.
Sunderland hold talks to sign Serie A forward
Xhaka immediately wore the captain’s armband and started 32 Premier League games, helping the team finish seventh in the division, making him the signing of the season for the club.
Le Bris are now looking to build on last season’s success and are eyeing a signing in what would be the club’s best signing since signing Xhaka from Bayer Leverkusen last year.
Tele Radio Stereo reports via Sport Witness that Sunderland are in the process of signing Roma forward Matthias Soule in the summer transfer window.
The newspaper said sporting director Florent Ghisolfi was in charge of the Argentine winger, who previously spent a year as manager at Roma.
The newspaper added that the club were already in talks to sign the 23-year-old attacker, but did not say whether those negotiations were with Roma or the player’s camp.
Sport Witness points out that previous reports suggested the winger could require a transfer fee of up to 40 million euros (approximately 3.4 billion yen) to agree a deal with the Italian side.
Sunderland could land their biggest signing since Granit Xhaka
Xhaka was a very impressive addition to Sunderland’s squad last year. That’s because he arrives as a top-class player with a proven track record of immediate quality on and off the pitch through his leadership.
Although Sule is not a natural leader who would compete for the captain’s armband, the Roma star is a proven player in one of Europe’s major leagues and could make an immediate impact on the field for Le Bris’ team.
The three players who played most often on the right for Sunderland last season were Simon Adingra, Try Hume and Bertrand Traore, but none showed consistent quality in the final third.
Most goal contributions for Sunderland in PL25/26 | |
|---|---|
the goal | assist |
Brian Blobby (7) | Enzo Le Fey (6) |
Wilson Isidore (6) | Granit Xhaka (6) |
Enzo Le Fey (5) | Nordi Mukiele (4) |
Kemsdyne Talbi (4) | Habib Diarra (2) |
Nordi Mukiele (3) | Brian Blobby (1) |
None of these three players ranked in the Black Cats’ top five for goals or assists in the Premier League last season, which shows the lack of quality Le Bris had in that position.
Signing Suul from Roma before the end of the summer transfer window would solve that problem for Sunderland. This is because he has consistently proven that he can provide a threat on the right wing, both as a scorer and as a goal creator.
The Argentina international scored six goals and provided five assists in Serie A for Roma in the 2025/26 season, after scoring five goals and providing five assists in the previous league season.
Prior to his time at Roma, Sule also scored 11 goals, created eight “big chances” and provided three assists during the 2023/24 Serie A season, which was Frosinone’s breakout year at the top level.
He has scored at least five goals and provided at least three assists in each of the last three Serie A seasons with Frosinone and Roma, showing he can provide consistent quality in Sunderland’s final third.
The 23-year-old still has room to grow and improve and could make the jump to the next level in the Premier League, which is why this could be the club’s best signing since Xhaka.
They would be bringing in a proven star who has shown his qualities at a high level to a position that desperately needs reinforcement, but it would also be an investment in his potential future.
