Sunderland have long been on the hunt for a new prolific striker to call their own, with their recent activity in the transfer market involving a centre-forward joining the ranks very mixed to say the least.
Last season, the Black Cats really struggled in the striker department as the likes of Mason Burstow and Nazariy Rusyn regularly fired blanks for the Championship club as new recruits, with the Ukranian only managing a pitiful two goals all season long in the second tier.
Now, however, Regis Le Bris will feel he’s found a solution to Sunderland’s woes up top in Wilson Isidor, who is setting the Championship alight on loan from Zenit St. Petersburg.
Isidor's form this season
The Wearside outfit had to be patient in their attempts to snap up the Frenchman in the summer transfer window, with a loan deal not agreed until near the tail-end of August.
But, their patience has more than been justified now, as their new star attacker has bagged four strikes from ten Championship appearances to date, including a wonderfully taken first-time strike rippling the back of the net against Oxford United last month.
There will be a concern that Isidor won’t put pen to paper on a permanent stay, however, leaving Sunderland back at square one again when it comes to lacking a potent finisher in their camp.
Arguably, Isidor has been the first bright spark up top Sunderland have managed to uncover since the exit of Ross Stewart, which hit the Black Cats hard at the time but could now be seen as a sale that was worthwhile after all.
Ross Stewart's transfer value in 2024
The Scotsman was a man possessed at points when leading the line for Sunderland, with the 28-year-old renowned for being a deadly goal machine at the Stadium of Light by the time of his departure last year.
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In total, the ex-Ross County man would bag a mightily impressive 40 goals from 80 games situated on Wearside, which included firing home the decisive winner in Sunderland’s 2-0 play-off final win over Wycombe in 2022, which saw second-tier football return to the beleaguered side.
23/24
Muscle injury
152 days
22/23
Achilles tendon surgery
282 days
22/23
Hamstring injury
93 days
19/20
Hamstring injury
62 days
As a result of his reputation growing as a clinical finisher in the EFL, Southampton purchased Stewart for £8m last summer after he bowed out from the club with ten goals during his final second-tier campaign, but injury issues also got in his way as can be seen glancing at the table above.
The Saints should have operated more cautiously when splashing the cash on the 28-year-old with hindsight on their side, with Stewart in and out of the St. Mary’s treatment room throughout his cursed time on the South Coast to date, with only four league games coming his way last season as his fitness problems began to take over.
Across nine appearances when he has been fit, he hasn’t exactly found his goalscoring mojo either, with Stewart yet to break his goalscoring duck for Southampton.
Consequently, Transfermarkt now values the one-time £8m buy in and around the £3.7m ballpark, as the Black Cats are now made to look smart for selling on their star striker when they did.
Still, Sunderland won’t take great pride in the fact their former “unbelievable” talisman – as he was once labelled by teammate Alex Pritchard – has struggled since moving to Southampton.
Rather, they’ll just hope Isidor can be the second coming of their prolific Scotsman, as promotion back up to the Premier League remains the ultimate goal for Le Bris’ men.
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