Exclusive:'Recruit again!' – Julio Arca delivers Sunderland transfer warning after historic Europa League qualification
Julio Arca spoke to The Echo’s Disco Pants Podcast with LiveScore on the eve of Sunderland’s historic European qualification
Julio Arca had not even taken his seat in the LiveScore Lounge at the Sheepfolds properly before the Sunderland memories started flooding back.
It was the day before one of the most significant afternoons in the club’s modern history, though nobody quite knew that yet. Sunderland were preparing to face Chelsea at the Stadium of Light, with an outside chance of qualifying for Europe still alive. By the following evening, the Black Cats would have completed a remarkable rise from League One to the Europa League. Arca, though, already seemed to understand the feeling around the place.
The former Sunderland midfielder was back on Wearside to speak to the Disco Pants Podcast, in association with LiveScore, and there was something lovely about the way he moved through the area. Happy to stop, happy to chat, happy to give people his time. Years have passed since he wore red and white, but it is obvious the bond remains with his adopted hometown and family.
Asked how important it is for him to still have that connection with Sunderland and the supporters, Arca said: “Yeah, no, it's always great to come back to the Stadium. I mean, I always get a great welcome from the fans. My kids become supporters as well, so they like to come to see the team play.
“Yeah, it feels like a home, you know, just today arriving in the Stadium, you're still seeing people that have been working at the stadium for a long, long time. They're still here, some of them over 20 years working for the stadium, so it's good to see familiar faces, and yes, I always feel comfortable coming back here.”
“I spent obviously six years in Sunderland, seven years in Middlesbrough, but always living around here in the North East, and it became obviously my second home. I've always been involved, you know, sometimes doing things for the club, sometimes doing things for the community.
“A few years ago, I was helping the Salvation Army, putting on some football sessions, trying to help the boys and girls over there. So, yeah, it's good to give something back to our community and to our club that obviously provided a lot to me when I was young.”
This feature is brought to you in association with LiveScore, whose mission is to fuel fans’ passion for sport. Download the LiveScore app for real-time updates, scores and match information, or visit livescore.com for more information. Arca’s timing could hardly have been better.
Arca arrived on Wearside just before Sunderland confirmed European qualification for the first time since 1973-74, with Régis Le Bris’ side going from promoted outsiders to seventh in the Premier League. Even before the Chelsea game, Arca recognised how far Sunderland had travelled in a very short space of time.
“Yeah, I don't think many people expected that, to be honest with you,” he said. “But obviously, last season it was good, it was tough, you know, the Championship is always hard to get out of there. This season was about doing the right recruitment to obviously not survive but just to stay in the league, and obviously, the recruitment paid off because some of the players that arrived in the club did really, really well, probably better than what people expected.
“It shows much obviously the club has progressed in the amount of ten months, how good the players have done, how good the managers have done. And that's what you need when you have a group of things that are working well together; things normally pay off. So hopefully today they get a win, and hopefully next season we start travelling around Europe.”
That final line proved rather prophetic. Arca knows a little bit about strong Sunderland seasons. He was part of the Peter Reid side that finished seventh in the Premier League, but he also lived the difficult drop-off that followed. That experience makes his view on what comes next particularly interesting.
“The hardest part is to keep the players because you're going to have big teams coming from some of the Sunderland players, realistically,” Arca said. “Then obviously it will depend on Sunderland letting go or keep them. Again, if you want to maintain yourself in the top ten, you might have to recruit again, not as much as before, but you're going to have to recruit some players.
“You're going to have to deal with the competition from other teams. I heard Chelsea are interested in a couple of players, Man United. So obviously financially for the club, I guess if they sell a couple of players it will be good, but at the same time you want to have a strong team to compete next season and not happen like it happened to us in 2002.”
What is clear, though, is that Arca feels Sunderland are now operating in a very different space to the one they occupied for much of his playing career. “I think the last few years, Sunderland has been more recognised internationally, especially when the Netflix series came out,” he said.
“I know it wasn't a good time for Sunderland throughout the series, but it became well-known everywhere. Obviously, this season, after this season, it just became well-known among players as well. Players are thinking Sunderland is doing well. If I get a chance to go there, I'll probably not think twice because they could play Europe.
“So it became a well-known team around Europe and around the world. They have a strong group of players now, and you know what it's like, if you have two or three seasons and finish top 10, top 12, then it's easy to attract players. Hopefully that's the case this time.”
Perhaps the biggest question now is just how far Sunderland can go if the club continues to get the major decisions right. The fan base is there. The stadium is there. The academy, catchment area and emotional pull of the club are all there. The challenge now is turning one remarkable season into something more sustainable. Arca is excited by the possibilities, but also believes Sunderland must avoid getting carried away.
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“I think the main thing is not to think too much ahead, if you know what I mean,” he added. “Think, oh, we're going to win the league or the Champions League and, you know, all that. I think, you know, what they've done this season is fantastic. It's like you can't ask for a bad season. Now, can we do the same next season? Can we maintain ourselves in the top eight?
“And then when you have that platform of top ten, top eight for a few seasons, can we push up for, you know, Europa League? Well, hopefully it happens today, but can we try again next season? And then, obviously, it should grow up as a team. A couple of seasons in the Premier League, the platform is strong enough, strong enough to stay. It's like anything. You have to update the system, don't you? You have to update the team, because if you keep the same team for five years, it will probably deteriorate.”