The £34m star who could become Sunderland’s best signing since Xhaka

Every single Sunderland supporter surely let out a sigh of relief when it was revealed that Granit Xhaka had decided to stay at the Stadium of Light ahead of next season.

There was some fear that the Switzerland international would be on his way out of the club after Xabi Alonso decided to pursue a deal to bring him to Chelsea this summer.

The Premier League giants even submitted an offer of £8m to sign the veteran midfielder, only for it to be rejected and branded as ‘insulting’ for how low it was.

Xhaka then decided to turn down Chelsea’s advances because he wants to remain with Regis Le Bris‘ side, which has ended Alonso’s pursuit of his former Bayer Leverkusen star.

The 33-year-old central midfielder can now focus on leading the Black Cats into the Premier League and the Europa League next season as their captain.

Sunderland have held talks to sign Serie A forward

Xhaka was the signing of the season for the club because he immediately took on the captain’s armband and started 32 Premier League games to help the team to secure a seventh-placed finish in the division.

Le Bris is now looking to build on last season’s success and is eyeing a move for a player who would be the club’s best signing since they brought Xhaka in from Bayer Leverkusen last year.

According to Tele Radio Stereo, via Sport Witness, Sunderland are pursuing a deal to sign Roma forward Matias Soule in the summer transfer window.

The report claims that sporting director Florent Ghisolfi is leading the charge for the Argentine winger, having previously worked at Roma for one year as a director.

It adds that the club have already made an enquiry to hold talks over a deal for the 23-year-old attacker, but it does not state whether those talks were with Roma or the player’s camp.

Sport Witness notes that earlier reports suggested that a fee of up to €40m (£34m) could be needed to agree a deal with the Italian side for the winger.

Sunderland could secure their best signing since Granit Xhaka

Xhaka was such an impressive addition to Sunderland’s squad last year because he arrived as a proven top class player who was able to deliver instant quality, both on the pitch and off the pitch with his leadership.

Whilst Soule is not a natural leader who will compete for the captain’s armband, the Roma star is a proven player in one of Europe’s major leagues and could have an immediate impact on the field for Le Bris’ side.

The three players who played on the right flank most frequently for Sunderland last season were Simon Adingra, Trai Hume, and Bertrand Traore, and none of them showed consistent quality in the final third.

None of those three players ranked in the top five performers for goals or assists for the Black Cats in the Premier League last term, which illustrates the lack of quality that Le Bris had in that position.

Signing Soule from Roma before the end of the summer transfer window would solve that issue for Sunderland because he has consistently proven that he can offer a threat as both a scorer and a creator of goals on the right flank.

The Argentina international produced six goals and five assists in the Serie A for Roma in the 2025/26 campaign, after scoring five goals and providing five assists in the previous league season.

Prior to his spell at Roma, Soule also scored 11 goals, created eight ‘big chances’, and registered three assists for Frosinone in the Serie A in the 2023/24 campaign, which was his breakout year at senior level.

He has scored five or more goals and provided three or more assists in each of the last three Serie A seasons for Frosinone and Roma combined, showing that he can offer consistent quality in the final third for Sunderland.

At the age of 23, he also has more room left to develop and improve and could 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, in a position that they desperately need to strengthen, whilst it would also be an investment for the future with his potential.