Roker Roundtable: Which of Sunderland’s summer signings is the most exciting?

Jon Guy says…

For me, it has to be Nectar Triantis.

While we struggled at the back with injuries last season, the noise around West Ham potentially coming in for Dan Ballard is growing, so I do wonder if the arrivals of Triantis and Jenson Seelt signals that we may do business.

In that case, I’m really looking forward to seeing Triantis and Danny Batth at the heart of our defence.

The Australian league may not be brilliant, but from what I saw last season, Triantis is up for the physical side of the game, he’s good in the air and he was key to Central Coast Mariners’ swift transition when they won the ball at the back.

He’s a real ball-playing centre back, as is Ballard, and I’m really excited that we look to have uncovered another gem of a player.

Photo by Ian Horrocks/Sunderland AFC via Getty Images

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Malc Dugdale says…

I’m really looking forward to seeing what Luis Semedo can do- for obvious reasons!

We’ve had terrible luck with strikers, especially last season, and although contributions from the likes of Amad, Ellis Simms, and Nathan Broadhead in 2021/2022 were welcome, the dire lack of attacking options during 2022/2023 will hopefully be like night and day this time around.

With both Ross Stewart and Isaac Lihadji around too, and more attacking options possibly on the way via transfers or loans, we should have good options to take on opposition defences throughout the course of the season, even if Semedo takes a little while to settle in.

We scored some cracking goals last season despite the injury issues, and there’ll hopefully be more of the same with these signings, who bring height, physicality and youth to add to our creative and flowing attacking play.

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Phil West says…

Of the four players we’ve signed so far, Jobe Bellingham is the one that I’m most intrigued about, although Luis Semedo isn’t far behind.

Bellingham’s arrival was mooted for some time before it was confirmed, and he gives us another exciting option in midfield.

The fact that we seemingly passed on signing the immensely talented Edouard Michut in order to bring Bellingham to Wearside was quite a statement in itself, but judging by his demeanour so far, the seventeen year-old seems to be taking everything in his stride.

I’m eager to see exactly where he fits into our team and in which position his skillset can be best utilised. He’ll need to be managed well and he’ll also have to work hard to break into the first team, with competition from the likes of Dan Neil and Pierre Ekwah, but I get a sense that the club can see huge potential in him.

Let’s remember, though, that he’s on his own path, despite his older brother recently becoming Real Madrid’s latest big-name signing.

If we’re patient with Jobe and we accept the fact that he probably won’t play every single game as he continues to develop, he could prove to be another tremendously impactful addition to our squad.

Photo by Martin Swinney/Sunderland AFC via Getty Images

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