Sunderland’s audacious summer move for Granit Xhaka, even at the time, felt like smart business – a proven, combative midfield brain parachuting into Wearside with the kind of pedigree that can steady a newly-promoted club. And if the £17 million price tag for a player about to turn 33 appeared a little steep, it hasn’t taken long for the deal to resemble a bargain.
Now, halfway through the 2025-26 season, that signing is starting to look less like a clever bit of recruitment and more like a transformational masterstroke. With 16 Premier League starts under his belt for Sunderland, a goal, four assists and 1,422 minutes of ironman availability, Xhaka has already become the fulcrum of Regis Le Bris’ system. And the coming month will see the Black Cats lean on their experienced leader even more.
There are obvious reasons to argue Xhaka is one of the signings of the summer. He brings elite passing volume (roughly 51 passes per game and an 83% completion rate), an eye for the killer ball (19 key passes so far) and the sort of defensive discipline – tackles, interceptions, aerial presence – that allows the team to function as a unit rather than a collection of individuals.
Those stats represent impressive production for a post-prime midfielder. But they tell only part of the story of how crucial Xhaka has been to Sunderland’s rise comfortably into the top half of the table. And his importance to the team will only grow in the coming weeks as Sunderland face an unenviable run of fixtures and the looming reality of the Africa Cup of Nations draining away half the club’s talent. Put simply, with six players set to depart for AFCON, Sunderland will need someone to give the side both order and invention. Luckily, Xhaka is their man.
The numbers tell the story of both contribution and irreplaceability. Xhaka’s tally of four assists is not necessarily what you expect from someone labelled primarily as a defensive midfielder. It’s the combination of his pass volume and willingness to try long diagonals that makes him a tactical Swiss Army knife. Against tougher opponents, when outlets disappear and forwards are doubled up on, a team needs a central axis that can keep the ball moving and manufacture chances. Sunderland have that in Xhaka.
And Sunderland will need that axis more than most clubs. They are among the teams hardest hit by AFCON call-ups, with six players named in African national squads after the club’s heavy summer recruitment included multiple African signings.
That group of players includes starters and rotational figures who have been important to Sunderland’s early-season cohesion: Noah Sadiki and Arthur Masuaku (DR Congo), Reinildo Mandava (Mozambique), Bertrand Traore (Burkina Faso) and the exciting Chemsdine Talbi (Morocco), not to mention Habib Diarra’s place in Senegal’s plans despite his recent return from groin surgery.
Losing that kind of depth for three to four weeks removes pieces of Le Bris’ tactical jigsaw at a time when the fixture list tightens.
Sunderland face Brighton and Leeds before the calendar turns to 2026, then it’s Manchester City at the Stadium of Light on New Year’s Day, a trip to Tottenham on 4 January and then Brentford in midweek before an FA Cup tie at Everton on 10 January. Crystal Palace and West Ham round out their month.
That’s a pressure cooker of high-intensity games that require not only smart rotation but a midfield conductor who can control tempo, shield a makeshift backline and supply a frontline that will inevitably be altered. Xhaka’s Premier League résumé means he can do that quietly and efficiently.
Xhaka’s presence creates tactical breathing space for a team made up so heavily of new additions, not to mention one set for several key absences. Players like Sadiki have been lauded for their energy and range, Traore for his moments of flair, Talbi for his promise. With Xhaka as the metronome, those talents can play their natural games without the panic or the overreaching that comes from trying to do too much.
With a chunk of those African summer signings due to leave for Morocco, Le Bris will need someone who can impose structure and calm. That responsibility will, by default, come to Xhaka: he’s the senior midfield voice and the kind of experienced, do-it-all midfielder who ensures the upstart side command respect around the league.
Given his role in Sunderland’s hot start to life back in the top flight, Xhaka’s arrival at the Stadium of Light already looked like a contender to be considered the most impactful Premier League transfer of the 2025 summer. Not because he has the flashiest stat line, but because his particular blend of passing, positional intelligence and leadership has aligned perfectly with a club fighting against the tide of the recent cycle of promotion and immediate relegation.
Over the next month, when six of his team-mates head to AFCON and the fixture list tests the squad’s mettle, Sunderland will discover just how pivotal this signing was – and whether their expensive veteran addition has quietly become the bargain of the Premier League season.
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