\n<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
They have splurged about \u00a3132m on new signings<\/a> – Nottingham Forest hold the record for the biggest outlay by a team promoted to the Premier League, with the approximate \u00a3142m they spent bringing in 21 players in the summer of 2022.<\/p>\n Nordi Mukiele’s impending arrival is set to increase the number of new faces on Wearside to 12.<\/p>\n The defender was rumoured to be at Saturday’s game before a reported \u00a39.5m 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n And yet, for all the talk of new arrivals, it was three of Sunderland’s Championship play-off heroes who grabbed the headlines.<\/p>\n Mayenda netted Sunderland’s opener in the Championship play-off final in May,<\/a> 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.<\/a><\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n “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.”<\/p>\n “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.”<\/p>\n Former Sunderland defender Gary Bennett told BBC Radio Newcastle: “We have to remember the giant strides we have made.<\/p>\n “The big question was, after signing all those players: would they gel together as a team? Today they answered that question.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n