The national praise has arrived – but on Wearside, Granit Xhaka’s influence has been obvious from since the West Ham game

It was faintly amusing to watch Wayne Rooney and Micah Richards beam and declare Granit Xhaka the signing of the season, as though they had stumbled upon some seismic revelation after Sunderland’s derby win over Newcastle United.

With the greatest respect to two former England internationals, this was old news on Wearside. Sunderland supporters – and those paying close attention locally – have known this since August. The national conversation has merely been playing catch-up. In truth, the debate no longer stops at signing of the season. There is already a serious case to be made that Xhaka is Sunderland’s most influential signing ever, relative to time served. 16 games in, and he is not just a midfielder – he is the reference point. The conductor. Everything runs through him.

The loudest chant, in a stadium overflowing with noise on derby day, told its own story: we’ve got Granit Xhaka. By full-time, the symbolism had sharpened further. Bloodied, sporting a cut above his eye after a clash in the closing moments, Xhaka stood at the centre of it all against Sunderland’s biggest rivals. These are the images that harden into mythology – the captain who quite literally bled for the shirt, then walked back out to finish the job.

What separates Xhaka is not just what he does, but how he does it. Football looks simpler when he is involved. Time appears to slow when the ball reaches his feet, as if the game briefly drops into half-speed. No matter how frantic a fixture becomes – how end-to-end, how fraught – when possession arrives at Granit Xhaka’s feet, time stands still and the match bends to his will. Opponents close in, yet never quite arrive. It feels like an optical illusion: angles created where none existed, pressure dissolved by positioning alone. He is always available, always scanning, always organising. Sunderland won the derby because Xhaka allowed them to control it emotionally as much as tactically.

This was supposed to be the domain of Bruno Guimarães and Sandro Tonali – two midfielders routinely described as among the best in the Premier League. Perhaps they are. But on this afternoon, Xhaka, alongside Noah Sadiki, met them head-on and won. Authority does not always roar; sometimes it simply stands its ground and refuses to move. The scale of his impact is already being reflected off the pitch. A recent Sunderland Echo social media poll asked supporters to name the club’s best midfielder of the modern era, and more than 70 per cent voted for Xhaka – not even half a season into his Black Cats career. It is a remarkable verdict, but a telling one. Influence like this is usually measured in years. Xhaka has compressed it into months.

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And as a local reporter – and ultimately a supporter – you do occasionally have to catch yourself. You ask the questions you’re supposed to ask. Am I over-egging this? Am I searching for a narrative that isn’t really there? Am I seeing or feeling something different to everyone else? Should anyone be making statements like this so early into a player’s Sunderland career? But the truth is this: Xhaka has forced every one of these conclusions. He has earned every glorious platitude written and spoken about him. This is not projection, nor nostalgia, nor hype. It is the truth.

What makes Xhaka’s impact all the more extraordinary is its immediacy. Nobody has arrived at Sunderland and imposed themselves this completely, this quickly. He would walk into virtually any midfield in the division. Instead, he chose Wearside. That decision alone will define Kyril Louis-Dreyfus’ ownership in years to come. The phone call that convinced Xhaka to join Sunderland will pass into club folklore.

Any early-season talk of his legs being “gone” now reads as faintly embarrassing. Xhaka has covered more ground than any other player in the Premier League. He does not chase the game; he positions himself so the game comes to him. Economy of movement, maximum influence. Perhaps the clearest insight into the man, though, came away from the ball. Before kick-off, Xhaka deliberately stepped back, allowing Luke O’Nien to speak about what the derby meant. No ego. No need to dominate the moment. Just an understanding of culture and respect for the club’s fabric.

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After the final whistle, he delivered a different kind of message – calm, controlled and devastating. Asked about Sunderland’s post-match team photo in front of the Roker End, Xhaka framed it simply as karma. A respectful but unmistakable reminder of events two years earlier, when Newcastle posed here after their FA Cup win. No shouting. No gloating. Just balance restored. And his influence stretches well beyond matchdays. Xhaka greets academy players by name every morning. He speaks to them between sessions. He attends youth games in person. These are not gestures for effect; they are habits. Standards are not demanded – they are modelled.

Great signings change teams. Rare ones change clubs. Xhaka is doing both. Sunderland did not just recruit a midfielder. They invested in authority, belief and credibility, all wrapped into one figure. 16 games in, and the bar has already shifted. The rest of the country is finally paying attention. On Wearside, they have been watching it unfold all along.

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