Kelechi Chibueze has revealed just how demanding Sunderland first-team training became under Régis Le Bris
Former Sunderland academy goalkeeper Kelechi Chibueze has lifted the lid on the standards inside Régis Le Bris’ first-team training sessions, saying the finishing quality could leave a goalkeeper barely making a save.
Chibueze was released by Sunderland in the summer of 2025 but spent time training with Le Bris’ senior squad during the promotion campaign, giving him a close look at the group which returned the club to the Premier League. For the young goalkeeper, one major difference from previous academy environments was how accessible Sunderland made the first team feel.
“The beautiful thing about the Sunderland team, and especially when I was there, is that it was quite young,” Chibueze told The Echo. “The way that the training ground is built, it’s not segregated as much as it is at other clubs. When I was at Leicester, there was the first-team side and the youth-team side, so you can really feel that divide. But when you’re sitting and having breakfast with Luke O’Nien, or sitting with Jobe, for example, it kind of makes you realise that, yeah, this is actually attainable.”
On the training pitch, however, there was nowhere to hide. “Being around that group, it was just so good, man,” he said. “There were so many great players, great characters. Every single time we went to train, the standards, the quality, were high every single day. There was no slacking off.
“I couldn’t really have a bad day because the quality was so good. The quality was so good that if I wasn’t training well, I could go for a session of literally not even saving anything. The quality of finishing from some of the attackers is insane.”
That group won promotion in 2025 before Le Bris guided Sunderland to seventh in the Premier League, securing Europa League football. Chibueze’s account also offers an insight into why Sunderland value integration at the Academy of Light. Young players can see the senior group, train alongside them and understand the level required. The pathway may be demanding, but it is deliberately visible. That closeness is central to Sunderland’s academy philosophy.
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“Because everyone is integrated together in the training ground, it made it seem like it was possible to make it over to the first team. I think that’s what kind of makes it different. At some academies, what you find is that there’s like a separate building between the first-team building and the academy building.
“So when you go over there, you know, it’s a massive thing and you kind of get nervous, and you kind of see them as almost godly figures. But I think the people that end up being able to integrate into the first team well are when they’re in environments where you see the first team when you’re in the physio, you see them in the gym, and it doesn’t seem as massive.”
Chibueze has since retired from playing football professionally and is now working at a sales company in London as the former Leicester City, Chelsea and Sunderland man begins to think about life after the beautiful game.
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