Sunderland fans have delivered their verdict on a busy summer transfer window
Sunderland had quite the summer; a long-awaited and much-yearned for promotion back to the Premier League, 14 new players brought in, and more than £150 million spent.
It was a recruitment drive that - at least on the early evidence - looks to have given the Black Cats a real fighting chance of staying up this season, with the likes of Granit Xhaka, Robin Roefs, Nordi Mukiele, Omar Alderete, Noah Sadiki, Reinildo, Habib Diarra, and others besides, all making positive starts to their time in the North East.
Of course, there is still plenty of hard work to do before the threat of relegation is properly staved off, but at the very least, it would appear that Sunderland’s summer has provided them with a platform on which they can build something quite impressive.
What do Sunderland fans think of the club’s summer transfer window?
And with that in mind The Echo has turned to supporters to get their thoughts on a hectic and ambitious few months at the Stadium of Light. As part of our Big Sunderland Survey, fans were asked about all aspects of the Black Cats’ summer, and have responded accordingly.
First off, the Mackem faithful were asked whether their club completed enough business during the transfer window, with a whopping 88.4% believing that they did, compared to just 11.6% who do not.
Of the business conducted, 57.4% stated that it exceeded all of their prior expectations for the window, with a further 42.6% arguing that while it was a job well done, the Black Cats are still short in some areas. Tellingly, not a single respondent suggested that they expected more or were underwhelmed by Sunderland’s dealings.
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To that end, the club’s recruitment team have also been handed a massive show of support, with 99.1% of fans stating that they are indeed happy with the Black Cats’ current structure in terms of who takes care of the transfer business. In particular, Kristjaan Speakman and Florent Ghisolfi have come in for praise, with 73.3% of respondents labelling their work “outstanding”, and a further 26.7% believing that it is “above average”.
And finally, Sunderland supporters have also offered their thoughts on who the club’s best piece of business has been. Perhaps unsurprisingly, new captain Granit Xhaka leads the way with a huge 57.7% of the vote, with goalkeeper Robin Roefs coming in second with 28.9%. In third, Nordi Mukiele and Noah Sadiki are tied with 4.5%, just ahead of Omar Alderete with 3.6%. Reinildo and Chemsdine Talbi both picked up 0.3%.
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