Brian Brobbey signed for Sunderland from Ajax during the summer transfer window

We’re running the risk of getting a little bit hysterical here, folks. At the time of writing, Brian Brobbey has registered less than an hour of first team football for Sunderland, and is still yet to start a game in red and white.

Nevertheless, it feels as if there is a narrative starting to bubble away in some quarters that would have you believe he is on track to become an irreconcilable flop in the North East.

First there was the article in the Dutch media, hooked off an errant social media post from a supporter, suggesting that the 23-year-old was in danger of taking the title of Sunderland’s “worst signing since Jozy Altidore”. Harsh words. Then there have been a smattering of opinion pieces from online outlets - half of whom you suspect probably don’t watch Regis Le Bris’ side all that often - echoing those sentiments, and then a recent interview with former Ajax manager John van ’t Schip hinting that the attacker’s injury issues back in his home country could ultimately go on to hamstring his progress in the Premier League.

“Only in the last three or four months did he have constant complaints,” Van ’t Schip said. “He could play for thirty minutes, then not, then sixty minutes. He’s a bit vulnerable physically, that’s the only downside. You shouldn’t take him to the weight room. He has strength, but I think it’s more about his muscle structure and flexibility. He has so much power that things sometimes go wrong for him”.

And all the while, you can’t help wondering how it is possible to say so much about a player who has played so little. If Brobbey was a dozen games into his Sunderland career - leading the line with the verve and finesse of a Blackpool donkey and endangering the health of those stood at the back of the Roker End every time he loosed a shot at a goal - perhaps the scepticism would be fair enough.

But he’s not. In fact, we’ve barely seen anything of him at all, in truth. On his debut against Crystal Palace he was introduced just as Sunderland began to batten down the hatches in an effort to see out a hard-fought and well-deserved point, in the final five minutes against Nottingham Forest he provided a willing outlet late on, and against Manchester United he had little opportunity to impact a contest that had largely slipped away from his side long before he was parachuted into an unenviable situation. It’s hardly the rap sheet of an unmitigated disaster.

Perhaps there is a simmering sense of frustration that a player who was signed for upwards of £21 million, add-ons included, has not been used more frequently sooner, but again, these things have to be viewed through a prism of pragmatism. Prior to joining Sunderland, Brobbey hadn’t kicked a ball for Ajax since May 18th. He was never going to rock up in the Premier League, lace up his boots, and start banging in hat-tricks every other weekend.

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What he needs, instead, is time and patience. Thankfully, that appears to be something that Le Bris, the most level-headed man on Wearside, has fully acknowledged. Speaking in a recent press conference about Brobbey, he said: "It's still a process to step up to this league. He's still really young, he comes from a different club with a different style of play, probably with Ajax they were always dominant [on the ball] with a high block and so this is a totally different way of playing, and a totally different challenge. so he needs time and support. This challenge at Man Utd will have been useful for him, obviously we would have liked more from him and all of the players because the performance wasn't the best version of Sunderland, but the process is ongoing."

And he’s not wrong, either. How often do we see players - and strikers in particular - take a while to acclimatise to their new surroundings? Factor in the change of scenery, the fearsome reputation of the Premier League, and the lack of minutes - both pre and post-transfer - and it is entirely understandable that Brobbey is still finding his feet.

What’s more, there are signs of promise. In a behind-closed-doors friendly against Livingston earlier this week, the forward got himself on the scoresheet as Sunderland ran out 2-0 winners, and there is nothing to suggest that his match fitness won’t continue to sharpen over the coming weeks.

In other words, these faint strains of criticism seem to be founded on a whole load of nothing. These are ridiculously early days, and Brobbey still has every chance of being exactly the kind of impactful signing that Sunderland brought him in to be. Just bear with him.

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