Breaking News: With just two days remaining in the transfer window, Sunderland AFC and Roma Fc have officially reached an agreement for their incredible Argentinian World Cup winner. The Italian journalist Gianluca Dimarzio claims that a €15 million fee was agreed upon, with the star forward still awaiting results from his medical examination Due to..

Sunderland Unveil New Head Coach
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With players also looking likely to depart the Stadium of Light in the final hours of the window, it seems as though the Sunderland hierarchy have sought to replace them by lowering the floor of the squad and providing some additional depth, so who are the rumoured incomings, and what does it look like from a data perspective?

Salis Abdul Samed
The first and most senior of the pair to be linked is twenty four-year-old Ghanaian Salis Abdul Samed, currently of RC Lens in Ligue 1.

Operating primarily as a defensive midfielder, he started his career at the illustrious JMG Academy in France before moving to Clermont and then to RC Lens in the 2022 season.

Following what seems to be the cold shoulder from new head coach Will Still, the defensively-minded Samed is coming off the back of a fantastic season for Lens, having starred in all eight of their European games last season while complimenting this with twenty seven appearances in the league.

Sport-Club Freiburg v RC Lens: Knockout Round Play-offs Second Leg – UEFA Europa League 2023/24
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Given his apparent club turmoil, Samed is clearly looking for regular game time and potentially sees Sunderland as an attractive proposition to maintain his upwards trajectory of progression.

This follows his inclusion in the Ligue 1 ‘Team of the Season’ for the 2022/2023 campaign, which saw Lens qualify for the Champions League for the first time in twenty years.

As a natural defensive midfielder, he doesn’t have any particular stats that you’d expect to jump off the page.

However, unlike other player comparisons I’ve provided, this includes players inside the top five leagues and therefore you’d expect him to rank lower on the same metric when compared to world class talents such as Rodri or Aurélien Tchouaméni.

Samed Comparative Data (23/24) Fbref
What does stand out, however is his overall pass completion rate of 88.2%, which places him in the 84th percentile, with his interceptions and clearances placing him in the 50th percentile when compared to some of Europe’s most elite players.

I’ve also included a graphic comparing him to other Champions League midfielders during the 2023/2024 campaign, which shows that he’s certainly a level above the Championship in terms of his ability, given that he ranks in the middle of the pack with these elite players.

In addition to this, he ranks favourably in his ability to progressively carry the ball, which is a key component of Régis Le Bris’ high pressing system when looking to start quick counterattacks.

However, perhaps his biggest asset is his high-energy play and ability to press teams very aggressively.

This is something that compliments Le Bris’ high press very well, especially when Sunderland are sometimes expected to play three times in nine days. It would offer great scope to rotate and provide adequate rest for others.

When compared to other Championship midfielders, Samed ranks favourably and looks like a player who’d settle into a top Championship or lower Premier League side without much of an issue.

Samed v Championship Midfielders FbRef
Considering his quality, I highly doubt whether we would’ve been able to attract a talent of this level had we not made as successful a start to the campaign.

With that in mind, I totally understand that this would be an option of a loan with a buyout clause that would be well above Sunderland’s financial capability, and thus would simply act as a chance for a high quality player to get minutes under his belt.

Milan Aleksić
The second of Sunderland’s potential incomings is that of eighteen-year-old Serbian Milan Aleksić from Radnicki 1923 in the Serbian League.

Tipped by many European journalists to make a move from his homeland this summer, the teenage attacking midfielder has been linked with both Benfica and Chelsea in the last twelve months, and looks to be joining Sunderland in a deal that could eventually rise to €3,700,000, should performance-related add ons be achieved.

Milan Aleksić
The youngster has already represented Serbia at both U18 and U19 levels, with a rumoured call up to the senior side coming in the near future, and Sunderland appear to be banking on yet another talent from the continent with an extraordinarily high ceiling.

Comfortable operating as both an advanced number eight in a midfield three, or a more natural number ten, Aleksić racked up fifteen goal contributions (5G/10A) in just thirty one games last season, and looks like he’s picked up exactly where he left off, with two goals in two games for Radnicki in the 2024/2025 Europa Conference League qualifiers.