Sunderland recently confirmed that summer signing Granit Xhaka will be the club captain for the 2025/26 Premier League campaign and, hopefully, beyond.
The Switzerland international joined from Bayer Leverkusen for a fee of £13m earlier this summer, and Regis Le Bris has waxed lyrical over his leadership already.
Xhaka is also a top-quality midfielder who can play as a number six, a number eight, or as a number ten, and produced 23 goals and 29 assists during his time with Arsenal, per Transfermarkt.
The Swiss midfield general turns 33 next month, though, and the Black Cats may already be looking for a player who could be his long-term successor in the middle of the park.
Sunderland could hijack move for midfield magician
The Championship play-off champions are supposedly eyeing up a potential swoop for a player who could be described as a younger version of Xhaka.
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According to Football Insider, Sunderland could ‘hijack’ Juventus’ move to sign Brighton & Hove Albion central midfielder Matt O’Riley this summer.
The report claims that the Italian giants have held talks over a deal for the Denmark international, but the Black Cats are also showing an interest in the former Celtic superstar.
It adds that Brighton are looking for a fee in the region of £30m for the Danish star, after they paid £25m to Celtic for him last summer, and it remains to be seen whether or not Sunderland or Juventus are willing to pay that price for him.
Why Matt O'Riley is a younger Granit Xhaka
At the age of 24, O’Riley is eight years younger than Xhaka and would come in at the Stadium of Light with far more long-term potential to be a key player on the pitch for many more years to come.
Like the Sunderland captain, the Brighton ace is a versatile midfielder who has played as a number six, a number eight, and as a number ten throughout his career, as a left-footed star who likes to make things happen with the ball at his feet.
During his time in Glasgow, O’Riley scored 27 goals and provided 35 assists in 124 outings for Celtic, which shows that he can have the sort of impact in the final third that Xhaka had during his spell at Arsenal.
The Danish star, whose consistency was hailed as “phenomenal” by Brendan Rodgers, also showed off his attacking quality in the Premier League with Brighton last season.
xAG
0.23
0.14
Assists
0.19
0.22
Shot-creating actions
3.84
3.74
Progressive passes
3.65
9.91
Progressive carries
2.11
1.31
Tackles
1.54
1.50
As you can see in the table above, O’Riley made a bigger impact in the final third as a creative threat than Xhaka did in the Bundesliga with Leverkusen, whilst also making more tackles per 90.
However, the Swiss star was significantly more impressive when it came to progressing play as a passer from deep, which speaks to his experience and knowledge of the game, as he knows what positions to pick up and when and how to progress play in midfield.
Training and playing with Xhaka at Sunderland could be the best next step for O’Riley in his development, because it would be like him learning from an older version of himself given the similarities in their play styles and quality.
Therefore, the Black Cats should be pushing to beat Juventus to his signature this summer because the 24-year-old star could be Le Bris’ own younger version of Xhaka to mould into the captain’s long-term successor.
