After eight years in the wilderness of the Championship and League One, Sunderland have spent big in an attempt to keep their heads above water this season.
They have splurged about £132m on new signings – Nottingham Forest hold the record for the biggest outlay by a team promoted to the Premier League, with the approximate £142m they spent bringing in 21 players in the summer of 2022.
Nordi Mukiele’s impending arrival is set to increase the number of new faces on Wearside to 12.
The defender was rumoured to be at Saturday’s game before a reported £9.5m move from Paris St-Germain. If he was among the crowd, the former Leverkusen and Leipzig player will have enjoyed what he saw as seven new signings made their league debuts.
The tenacity and composure of veteran Switzerland midfielder Granit Xhaka allowed his team-mates to flourish, with former Strasbourg captain Habib Diarra’s skill and close control in the final third causing the Hammers all sorts of problems.
Noah Sadiki, another summer arrival from Belgium, completes a potent midfield trio which – on this evidence – looks more than capable of keeping the Black Cats afloat.
Goalkeeper Robin Roefs also enjoyed an outstanding debut, making a fine stop from Jarrod Bowen in the first half before preserving his clean sheet late on by tipping Isidor’s attempted clearance over the crossbar.
And yet, for all the talk of new arrivals, it was three of Sunderland’s Championship play-off heroes who grabbed the headlines.
Mayenda netted Sunderland’s opener in the Championship play-off final in May, while Ballard – who denied West Ham’s El Hadji Malick Diouf in the first half with a superb last-ditch clearance – rescued the Black Cats from semi-final heartache against Coventry.
Isidor – a second-half substitute on Saturday – was also on target against the Sky Blues, opening the scoring before a late Mayenda strike sealed a 2-1 win.
Ex-England striker Wayne Rooney told BBC Match of the Day: “The signs are excellent. They played a lot of debutants but the organisation was very similar to how they played last season. There was a lot of energy about Sunderland.
“We saw last season the promoted teams coming up, trying to play and be expansive – and you can’t do that. Sunderland showed you can get results if you are organised, work hard and stay together as a team.”
“The players they have got, and the players they have signed, makes me think Sunderland will stay up,” added former Black Cats midfielder Don Hutchinson on Premier League Kick-Off. “I think Xhaka is going to be a real leader.”
Former Sunderland defender Gary Bennett told BBC Radio Newcastle: “We have to remember the giant strides we have made.
“The big question was, after signing all those players: would they gel together as a team? Today they answered that question.”
