Sunderland fans are living in a dreamland at the moment.
For so many years, the Black Cats had struggled to get back up to the Premier League, with a dire four-season stay in League One very much the Wearside outfit at their depressing worst.
Now, however, Sunderland look ready to compete with the very best in the Premier League, having spent a combined £141.5m on brand new signings this summer, with all that spending immediately paying off when the Black Cats brushed West Ham United aside on the opening day with ease in a 3-0 win.
It will be about following up that stunning victory with more and more wins, as plenty of new signings are also tipped to join Regis Le Bris' camp before the transfer window closes.
Sunderland-1
Sunderland planning new £24m bid
12 new signings may well already be through the door on Wearside, but that number looks set to increase.
Le Bris and Co. could soon be splashing the cash even more by landing Brian Brobbey and Abdul Fatawu in quick succession, with the Ajax striker worth around the £17m mark, alongside his Leicester City counterpart's steep valuation of £30m.
brian-brobbey
Of course, some speculative transfer talk - as we head very close to September's early deadline - should be taken with a pinch of salt, but one rumour that kept floating about earlier in the window has come back into conversation again.
As per Italian outlet TuttoMercatoWeb, Sunderland are not giving up on acquiring the services of Bologna titan Jhon Lucumi to strengthen the centre-back department.
The site states that Sunderland is planning to lodge a new bid for the Colombian that should exceed the £24m mark, having seen their advances rejected by the Serie A outfit in the past.
If they were to finally pick up their desired centre-back target, this might well be bad news for Daniel Ballard moving forward, despite his colossal presence on the opening day against Graham Potter's flimsy Hammers.
Why Lucumi could be bad news for Ballard
The above graphic just reinforces how stellar of an opening weekend Ballard had in the Premier League, with an imposing 16 duels won in total sticking out, away from his headed effort on the day, giving Le Bris' men a two-goal cushion.
However, it will undoubtedly be difficult for Ballard to keep this up over a full season, which is his first ever campaign in the English top-flight, no less, when you assess his recurring injury difficulties on Wearside.
Daniel-Ballard
While he can boast seven goals from 90 appearances, alongside possessing a promotion up to the top-flight on his Black Cats CV, he has missed a worrying chunk of games across his three campaigns at the Stadium of Light due to injury, 65 clashes to be exact, as per Transfermarkt.
He has also shown he can struggle against Premier League opposition, away from all the glowing words surrounding his West Ham display, as the ex-Arsenal youth player inexplicably scored an own goal against Newcastle United in the Tyne-Wear Derby last year to hand the Magpies a 3-0 success in the FA Cup.
Therefore, snapping up Lucumi might well be deemed a worthwhile venture to pursue at £24m, considering his Serie A expertise and his often injury-free status.
Lucumi - Serie A stats (24/25)
Stat - per 90 mins*
Games played
Goals
Assists
Touches*
Accurate passes*
Tackles
Total duels won*
Clean sheets
Stats by Sofascore
The Bologna number 26 has only been unavailable for 16 games due to injuries across his stay at the Serie A club to date, with his 2024/25 offering also seeing him pick up ten clean sheets and average an unerring 92% pass accuracy per top-flight outing.
On the contrary, Ballard - albeit from just 20 games owing to long absences out of the side - only collected a paltry two clean sheets in Championship action, with an 88% pass accuracy also paling in comparison to Lucumi's numbers.
jhon-lucumi-bologna
Jhon Lucumi for Bologna.
Heralded as being an "unreal" potential signing for Sunderland to make by journalist Ethan Todd, Lucumi does feel as if he would add significant depth to an area of the pitch that could be depleted if Ballard were to be out of action.
Even when the 25-year-old is fully at the races, the South American no doubt would keep him on his toes, as Le Bris attempts to get all his final signings over the line, just in time for September to roll around.