Sunderland are set for the eighth summer transfer window since they were relegated from the Premier League.
Sunderland fans won’t be looking forward to another summer of arrivals and exits, with a manager yet to be named and a number of their prize assets being targeted by Premier League clubs.
Their long-awaited manager search, as well as a 16th place finish last season, could make bringing in quality players particularly difficult.
Transfer signings have been on a gradual decline over the last year or so, despite Kristjaan Speakman showing plenty of promise at the start of his time on Wearside.
Recent transfers certainly haven’t been half as bad as those in the years that followed relegation to the Championship, with many making it very clear as to why Sunderland went so downhill.
We have ranked Sunderland’s seven summer transfer windows since they first dropped down to the Championship.
Ranking Sunderland’s summer transfer windows
7. 2017-18 season
IN: James Vaughan, Jason Steele, Aiden McGeady, Callum McManaman, Marc Wilson, Robbin Ruitter, Lewis Grabban, Brendan Galloway, Tyias Browning, Jonny Williams
OUT: Jordan Pickford, Vito Mannone, Jermain Defoe, Seb Larsson, Will Buckley, Victor Anichebe, Steven Pienaar, Jan Kirchhoff, Jolean Lescott, Papy Djilobodji (loan), Fabio Borini (loan), Jeremain Lens (loan), Wahbi Khazri (loan)
McGeady proved to be an excellent signing for Sunderland, but looking back now, it is no surprise that they endured back-to-back relegations with the likes of Galloway and ‘terrible’ Vaughan in the team.
6. 2020/21 season
IN: Arbenit Xhemalji, Bailey Wright, Danny Graham, Aiden O’Brien, Remi Matthews, Morgan Feeney, Josh Hawkes, Dion Sanderson, Callum McFadzean
OUT: Kyle Lafferty, Ethan Robson, Jon McLaughlin, Jack Baldwin, Alim Ozturk, Duncan Watmore, Joel Lynch
Wright and Sanderson were both very solid defensive signings, but that was all the club really deserved credit for here.
Bringing back Graham was such a strange decision, while McFadzean goes down as one of the worst left-backs Sunderland have ever employed.
5. 2018/19 season
IN: Charlie Wyke, Jack Baldwin, Glenn Loovens, Reece James, Jon McLaughlin, Dylan McGeouch, Tom Flanagan, Alim Ozturk, Chris Maguire, Luke O’Nien, Jerome Sinclair (loan), Max Power (loan)
OUT: Wahbi Khazri, Paddy McNair, Fabio Borini, Jeremain Lens, Joel Asoro, Jack Rodwell, Marc Wilson, Billy Jones, John O’Shea, Jason Steele, Callum McManaman, Didier Ndong, Papy Djilobodji, Kazenga LuaLua, Lamine Kone (loan), Sam Brotherton (loan), Connor Shields (loan), Max Stryjek (loan), Elliot Embleton (loan)
This season was up for debate for fifth or fourth place, because McLaughlin, Maguire, O’Nen and Power were actually quality signings for the club at the time.
However, what has forced this season so far down the list is how disastrous the summer was in terms of outgoings. The Black Cats lost so much money on Ndong and Djilobodji, while they also failed to keep hold of Asoro.
4. 2019/20 season
IN: Joel Lynch, Conor McLaughlin, Jordan Willis, Lee Burge, George Dobson, Marc McNulty (loan), Laurens De Bock (loan)
OUT: Lamine Kone, George Honeyman, Lee Cattermole, Robbin Ruiter, Bryan Oviedo, Donald Love, Connor Shields, Max Stryjek, Reece James, Adam Matthews, Tommy Smith, Glen Loovens, Ethan Robson (loan), Jack Baldwin (loan)
This was an extremely boring summer of arrivals. Willis was a decent player before he got injured, while the rest were pretty pointless signings.
It was good to see Kone finally leave the club though, while Sunderland did well to get rid of some of the dead wood.
3. 2023/24 season
IN: Nazariy Rusyn, Jenson Seelt, Jobe Bellingham, Timothee Pembele, Eliezer Mayenda, Luis Hemir, Nectarios Triantis, Bradley Dack, Adil Aouchiche, Nathan Bishop, Mason Burstow (loan)
OUT: Ross Stewart, Lynden Gooch, Leon Dajaku, Danny Batth, Bailey Wright, Carl Winchester, Isaac Lihadji, Elliot Embleton (loan), Alex Bass (loan), Joe Anderson (loan)
Last summer is only in the top three because of how terrible very other window has been – but it was still pretty disastrous.
Jobe and Aouchiche are the only players to particularly impress, while the departures of a number of key, experienced players have really played a part in the team’s downfall.
2. 2012/22 season
IN: Alex Pritchard, Corry Evans, Niall Huggins, Dennis Cirkin, Leon Dajaku (loan), Frederick Alves (loan), Ron-Thorben Hoffman (loan), Nathan Broadhead (loan), Callum Doyle (loan)
OUT: Josh Scowen, Max Power, Chris Maguire, Remi Matthews, George Dobson, Charlie Wyke, Callum McFadzean, Grant Leadbitter, Conor McLaughlin, Will Grigg (loan), Josh Hawkes (loan), Anthony Patterson (loan), Benjamin Kimpioka (loan), Jack Diamond (loan)
Sunderland made some very impressive signings ahead of their promotion-winning campaign, with Pritchard, Evans, Cirkin, Doyle and Broadhead playing their part.
The latter has gone onto win two promotions with Ipswich Town following Sunderland’s play-off success, which is rather bittersweet after the Black Cats failed to bring him back.
- 2022/23 season
IN: Dan Ballard, Jewison Bennette, Abdoullah Ba, Leon Dajaku, Aji Alese, Jack Clarke, Alex Bass, Amad Diallo (loan), Edouard Michut (loan), Ellis Simms (loan)
OUT: Will Grigg, Arbenit Xhemaijli, Aiden McGeady, Lee Burge, Jordan Willis, Carl Winchester (loan), Jack Diamond (loan)
What a summer!
Ballard, Alese and Clarke are arguably worth over £35 million combined now, with the latter likely to leave the club this summer. The loan signing of Amad will go down as one of the club’s greatest ever, while Simms was excellent until he was recalled by Everton.
Bennette and Ba are still up for debate, but the other quality signings outweigh those – while finally selling Grigg was a massive win.