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Anthony Gair says…
I’m not going to come out and tell you how much I know about Semedo, other than that he’s highly rated by Benfica, one of the big three in Portugal, which has to count for something, right?
Anyway, we all know the troubles that occurred once Ross Stewart was injured: we ended up with square pegs in round holes and naturally struggling to do the easy stuff, like sliding the ball past the goalkeeper- would’ve been nice, Joffy, wouldn’t it?
The ‘Loch Ness Drogba’s’ return will obviously be like a new signing in itself, but to have a new, young, driven and talented lad to play alongside him can’t be a bad thing.
It was a shame for Joe Gelhardt because he wasn’t a striker, but Semedo appears to pride himself on putting the ball in the onion bag, which is the name of the game.
Either way, I’m totally excited about this!
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Jon Guy says…
It’s another positive move by the club.
If the media are to be believed, we’ve signed him ahead of some decent clubs, and it speaks to our growing attraction for talented young players.
He’s big, strong, and is said to be very good with his feet. Given the issues we had up front last season, I expect him to be competing with Ross Stewart and hopefully one more experienced striker come August.
He’ll be an exciting option next season and I expect he’ll get a chance to show us what he can do as the games will come thick and fast, and we’ll need to rotate the squad to avoid burn out and injury.
A great addition.
Matthew Crichton says…
Like 99% of Sunderland fans, Hemir is a complete enigma to me, but he’s someone I’m incredibly excited to see play, purely because of the previous recruitment by Kristjaan Speakman and Stuart Harvey.
The first striker we’ve signed on a permanent deal since January 2021 (excluding Jermain Defoe’s brief tenure), this position has been problematic for our recruitment team and has been heavily reliant on loans, so it’s fantastic to see that we’ve tied him down to a long-term permanent deal.
Also wanted by the likes of Brighton, I think Semedo is a clear example of this new model really starting to kick in when it comes to attracting players, particularly as we’re now starting to recruit from abroad again.
When you consider it’s not that long since we were announcing strikers like Aiden O’Brien and Danny Graham, it’s far more exciting to see a young player from an elite European academy arrive, and it really does show just how far we’ve moved forward in terms of recruitment from our days in League One.
With a return date yet to be made clear on Ross Stewart, I think the fact that we’ve got this deal over the line in June is crucial, as Hemir will have far more time to settle and hopefully complete a full pre season ready for the beginning of the new campaign.
Given the lack of competition, you’d expect him to start pre season as our first choice striker and I think everyone will be relishing the chance to see our new number nine in action!
We already know that this team creates a vast amount of chances and given our lack of options currently, I’m thinking it wouldn’t be the worst idea to throw a spare £10 on Hemir to be the Championship’s top scorer next season, although this may be very well be re-quoted to me if he’s only managed four goals by Christmas!
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