Adil Aouchiche: The clear winners from Sunderland's summer transfer window so far | OneFootball

This Black Cats duo will feel like things have gone their way this summer

Highlights

Sunderland will feel optimistic about their chances of pushing up the Championship table in the upcoming season under new boss Regis Le Bris.

The Black Cats endured a tumultuous 2023/24 campaign under three different managers, as interim head-coach Mike Dodds eventually led his side to 16th place in May.

Le Bris officially arrived at the Stadium of Light on July 1, and his initial cause of concern this summer will be keeping hold of the club's star players, such as Jack Clarke and Jobe Bellingham.

Sunderland released their retained list prior to his appointment, with Corry Evans, Bradley Dack, Ellis Taylor and Jack Diamond all departing the club upon the expiry of their contracts, while Alex Bass has since left to join Notts County and Nathan Bishop has joined Wycombe Wanderers on loan.

The club have been active in terms of incomings in the transfer market too, with goalkeeper Simon Moore joining from Coventry City and Republic of Ireland international Alan Browne arriving from Preston North End.

Le Bris and co. still have a lot of work to do in this summer window, and what has happened so far this summer has already had a knock-on effect on some of their existing players.

With that said, FLW offers two names from the Black Cats' current ranks that will feel like winners due to their club's goings-on so far.

Adil Aouchiche

Attacking midfielder Adil Aouchiche seemed like a real coup for the Black Cats when he joined last September on a five-year deal from Lorient, but he failed to properly adapt to English football in his debut season and will be hoping he can kick on in 2024/25.

He was born and raised in Paris, and after joining PSG's youth ranks as a 12-year-old, he went on to graduate from their academy and even feature for the first-team in the 2019/20 season, scoring once in three appearances.

Aouchiche went on to move to Saint Étienne in 2020, and played regularly for ASSE in Ligue 1 for two seasons before being bought by Lorient, coincidentally under then-boss Le Bris.

While Le Bris and Aouchiche did not really see eye-to-eye while at Les Merlus, the fact the two are linking up again in the North East of England signifies that they are each at a different stage in their career now, and the 21-year-old will feel as if he can kick on under his compatriot to make the most of the potential that saw him nominated for the Golden Boy award in 2020.

He has seen a direct positional rival in Bradley Dack leave the club this summer, and will be ahead of Elliot Embleton in the pecking order for the upcoming season after his injury hit 2023/24 campaign.

The club is also yet to bring in a new striker, which has a knock-on effect for Aouchiche, as Jobe Bellingham may find himself playing up-front again under Le Bris, so the attacking midfield spot could be open for him to start.

Luke O'Nien

Luke O'Nien is one of the Black Cats' longest serving players, after joining in 2018, and he will be feeling as if he has never been in a better place in his Sunderland career so far.

O'Nien has been a constant in a turbulent last six years at the Stadium of Light, and has seldom let his side down, turning out in the backline and in central and defensive midfield and proving his reliability and versatility for numerous different managers.

He helped the club win promotion to the second-tier in 2022 after four seasons in League One, and has arguably become an even more important player for the club in the Championship after being consistently deployed as a centre-back rather than in the middle of the park.

The 29-year-old was given the captaincy in Corry Evans' absence last season, and also featured in 43 league games, the most in a single season since his 2018 arrival.

He is surely set to retain the armband in the upcoming campaign under new boss Le Bris after Evans left the club, and seems especially likely given his probable closest competitor Dan Ballard's injury that will rule him out of the first few games of the season.

Ballard and Jensen Seelt's injuries mean O'Nien is almost nailed on to start in Le Bris' defensive pairing at the start of the season, and Sunderland's lack of new faces in the transfer window at centre-back will also have made him feel as if he is only set to continue at the heart of defence in 2024/25.

O'Nien wears his heart on his sleeve every time he pulls on the red and white shirt at the Stadium of Light, and this summer has proved that he is not going anywhere just yet.