Analysing Sunderland's transfers this summer

Paolo Di Canio

Sunderland surprised one and all when they sacked Martin O Neill at a time when Sunderland had to fight off relegation with just a handful of games remaining. The bigger surprise, however came when former Swindon Town boss Paolo Di Canio was announced as his replacement.

Di Canio has a dicey reputation and has been in the news for his fascist remarks and his verbal attacks on his own team players. But what Di Canio promised to the Sunderland fans was a more disciplined and organised Sunderland team. At the end of the last season, he had said that there will a major shake up in the squad which could see a host of new faces and the departure of a few existing players.

Barely a month into the transfer window, Sunderland have already seen nine new faces join the squad and the departure of nine players. Yes, that’s what Paolo Di Canio meant by a major shake up. Di Canio has mentioned multiple times that there isn’t enough competition for the defensive positions in the Sunderland squad. In this transfer window, he has tried to rectify that problem by signing a host of defenders.

Di Canio’s signings are of the right age and the right attitude, something that he is really particular about. To strengthen his defence, he has called upon the services of Modibo Diakite and Valentin Roberge. The 26-year old centre back Diakite comes on a free transfer to Sunderland after enjoying a fruitful spell with Italian club Lazio. He is known to be a good reader of the game and has a strong physical presence at the back. He is good at winning aerial battles and should be a great addition to Sunderland’s defence which definitely lacked the ability to stop goals last season.

Roberge, 24, also a central defender is known to be a very strong and tough defender. Roberge spent time with PSG’s ‘B’ team and then a season with Racing Santander. He is a tough tackler which has seen him rake up 28 yellow cards and 3 red cards in his short career so far. Another encouraging quality about this defender is that he usually is injury free and remains supremely fit. These 2 defenders will make a good addition to the team’s toothless defence. The only problem with these two is that considering their age, they have played less matches in comparison to their peers.

With the impending departure of Stephane Sessegnon, Di Canio was adamant on making some big and marquee signings to improve the strike force which lacked fire power last season. Sunderland have successfully completed the signing of American sensation, Jozy Altidore, who with 31 goals in 30 matches last season single-handedly inspired AZ to a Dutch Cup win. He did have an unsuccessful tryst with the Premier League back in 2009 with Hull City where he managed to score just 1 goal in 28 appearances for the club. But that is a thing of the past and his confidence has increased in the last 2 seasons playing in the Eredivisie.

The marquee signing and definitely the most surprising one comes in the form of the Italian international winger Emanuele Giaccherini. Yes, Sunderland have indeed confirmed the signing of Giaccherini from Juventus for a reported fee of 7-8 million pounds. Giaccherini brings with him wealth of experience and a winning mentality, having won the league with Juventus over the past 2 seasons.

If Sunderland are to get something out of this season, they will have to hope that Giaccherini’s presence makes a difference to the way the squad plays. David Moberg Karlsson is another exciting prospect that has made his way to the Stadium of Light. The 19-year striker, bought for reported fee of 1.9 million, is mainly regarded as one for the future. The same can be said about Scottish striker Duncan Watmore, who comes in on a free transfer.

Even though Sunderland have some decent midfield talent at their disposal, Di Canio has tried to make sure that there is a bit of competition for the midfield slots with the signings of Cabral and the France U-20 international midfielder El- Hadji Ba. Cabral, a former Swiss U-21 international played a pivotal role in Basel’s success last season. El-Hadji Ba, on the other hand could spring a surprise. The talented midfielder was a part of the France U-20 team which won the World Cup recently. He might not be a regular starter for Sunderland but surely, a lot of eyes will be on him to see how he develops and if he is capable of a regular role in the subsequent seasons.

Keiran Westwood had a tough last season where he was mostly resigned to the bench owing to some superlative performances by Simon Mignolet. But with Mignolet completing his transfer to Liverpool this season, Westwood was hoping to be a regular starter for Sunderland. But Di Canio has made sure that no places are taken for for granted with the signing of Vito Mannone from Arsenal. He is sure to give a tough fight to Westwood for a place in the starting XI.

With the impending departure of star player Stephane Sessegnon, Paolo Di Canio had to make sure that Sunderland make some quality signings. His approach towards building a new look team has earned him a lot of praise from his bosses and Sunderland supporters alike.

Sunderland would now back themselves to play an attacking 4-3-3 with the signing of Giaccherini who is an accomplished left winger. With Adam Johnson on the right wing and Altidore as the central striker, Di Canio would hope for more goals than he had last season.