The Sunderland transfer that didn’t work out but shows the club’s rapid progress and revised aspirations

No matter what your transfer strategy is or how many good signings a club makes - it is inevitable that some deals simply won’t work out.

It’s to Sunderland’s credit that most of their incomings over the past two seasons have been viewed as a success - or seemingly have the potential to become first-team regulars in years to come.

That wasn’t the case for German winger Leon Dajaku, though, with the 22-year-old leaving Wearside on a permanent transfer to join Croatian side Hajduk Split.

That’s not to say Dajaku was a terrible signing, with the winger playing his part in the club’s promotion from League One, scoring four goals in 22 league appearances.

Yet Sunderland are now competing at a different level compared to when the German joined the club two years ago, going from a side trying to win promotion from League One to a team trying to reach the Premier League.

There were signs of Dajaku’s ability during the 2021/22 season, particularly around December time when he scored goals in back-to-back games against Oxford and Morecambe.

He had also scored a fine goal at Crewe, when he ran with the ball from the halfway line, highlighting his raw speed and dribbling ability.

Still, while he did adapt to a wing-back position when Sunderland had a shortage of full-backs, there were always question marks about his positional play out of possession.

The winger was also unfortunate he picked up a serious illness towards the end of Sunderland’s promotion campaign, meaning he missed the side’s last ten matches - including the three play-off fixtures.

In that time, January signings Jack Clarke and Patrick Roberts built up their fitness, playing a key part at the end of the 2021/22 campaign, and represented significant upgrades as Sunderland headed into the Championship.

At that stage it’s doubtful Sunderland would have opted to re-sign Dajaku on a permanent transfer, following an initial loan from Union Berlin, if a clause hadn’t been automatically triggered in his contract.

The arrivals of Roberts and Clarke bumped the German further down the pecking order, meaning he was deployed as a centre-forward during last year’s pre-season under Alex Neil.

Injuries to Ross Stewart and Ellis Simms meant the German was used up front again under Tony Mowbray at the end of last year, yet Dajaku clearly wasn’t suited to the role and was substituted at half-time during a 2-0 win over Huddersfield in November.

A loan move to Swiss side St Gallen in January to gain more regular first-team football seemed a logical move, yet, after a promising start, it ended in disappointment following two red cards.

It was never officially disclosed how long Dajaku’s Sunderland contract was, yet it was decided a move was best for all parties.

It’s clear the club is in a very different place, playing at a higher level with revised aspirations, compared to when Dakaju arrived two years ago.

By his own admission his time in England was sometimes ‘better, sometimes worse’ and he should be able to learn from the experience.