Sunderland played blinder with Aji Alese

Sunderland sporting director Kristjaan Speakman was a busy man all through the summer season switch window as he tried to enhance the squad.

The Black Cats had been promoted from League One, after beating Wycombe 2-0 within the play-off last at Wembley, and the previous Birmingham chief was tasked with constructing a crew able to competing at a better stage.

He introduced within the likes of Jack Clarke, Aji Alese, Ellis Simms, Edouard Michut, and Jewison Bennette, amongst others, and so they have helped the membership to get pleasure from a strong begin to the 2022/23 marketing campaign.

Sunderland are presently seventeenth within the Championship desk however they might transfer as much as twelfth in the event that they win their recreation in hand, which might additionally depart them 4 factors outdoors of the play-offs.

One summer season signing who was catching the attention for the Black Cats previous to choosing up an harm was 21-year-old defender Aji Alese as he showcased his high quality at centre-back and left-back.

Has Aji Alese been an excellent signing?

The teen was introduced in from Premier League aspect West Ham United on a everlasting deal forward of the 2022/23 marketing campaign and the transfer was of venture by Speakman because the teen had solely performed twice for the Hammers at senior stage and had not played above League One stage on mortgage.

Transfermarkt valued him at €500k (£439k) on the time of his transfer to the Stadium of Gentle however his stellar performances on the pitch at the beginning of this season has resulted within the web site rising his worth to €1m (£878k), which is his present valuation as of 09/11/2022.

Which means his worth has soared by 100% within the area of some months and his statistics within the Championship for Sunderland recommend that it’s deserved.

Alese has averaged a SofaScore ranking of seven.08 in 9 league outings for Tony Mowbray’s aspect, which is a rating solely Ross Stewart (7.66) has been capable of beat inside the squad.

This exhibits that he has been one of many membership’s prime performers since making the change from West Ham and he has showcased his defensive qualities by making 3.4 tackles and interceptions per recreation and successful 66% of his floor battles within the division, with the teen proving that he can deal with the physicality of the Championship.

Journalist Josh Bunting described the gem’s defending as “scary” because of how simple he made a goal-line clearance look and his statistics present that he was scaring supporters and pundits alike together with his excellent play previous to choosing up the injury that presently has him sidelined.

His spectacular performances and his hovering market worth present that Speakman performed a blinder by signing Alese in the summertime and that his gamble has paid off. Hopefully, the 21-year-old can proceed to develop and develop into a vital participant for the membership for a lot of extra years to return.