Sunderland's Romaine Mundle question as ex-Tottenham winger makes first Championship start at Birmingham

Romaine Mundle's arrival at Sunderland on transfer deadline day followed the club's recent recruitment trend of signing young and unproven prospects with a potentially high ceiling. But can he step up in the Championship?

The 20-year-old winger made just seven senior appearances for Belgian side Standard Liege in the first half of this campaign, after coming through the ranks at Tottenham and moving abroad last summer.

Sunderland then seized the opportunity to sign Mundle permanently, paying a seven-figure fee after learning Liege were willing to sell. Over the last year, the Black Cats have looked to strengthen their wide options by signing players such as Jewison Bennette (who has left on loan) and Isaac Lihadji (who was sold in the summer), yet neither have quite looked ready for England's second tier.

Abdoullah Ba has made more of an impact over time after joining the club in 2022 and moving out to the right flank. Sunderland have found success in the past by allowing new signings time to bed in on Wearside, with Trai Hume and Pierre Ekwah examples of players who have waited for their opportunities.

At this stage, Mundle looks like he may be handed more first-team chances sooner, with Patrick Roberts set to be sidelined with a hamstring injury for around a month. That is likely to leave Mundle and Ba competing for the right wing position, which the former occupied during Saturday's 2-1 defeat at Birmingham.

The 20-year-old, who can play on either flank, looked bright in the opening 45 minutes at St Andrew's, where he delivered a low cross with his stronger right foot which Mason Burstow couldn't convert. Mundle then latched onto a lofted pass from goalkeeper Anthony Patterson, before holding off Birmingham defender Krystian Bielik and forcing a good save from Blues stopper John Ruddy.

Mundle had less of an impact after the interval, as Sunderland dropped deeper to try and protect their first-half lead. The winger was then replaced by Ba in the 70th minute when the game was level, before Koji Miyoshi's winner ten minutes from time.

Still, this was an encouraging display from Mundle on his first start for the club. Despite the result, the winger made a strong case to keep his place ahead of Saturday's home fixture against Swansea.