New details reveal Granit Xhaka’s major behind-the-scenes role and the cultural overhaul now driving Sunderland

Sunderland’s revival under Régis Le Bris has been clear on the pitch for months – but inside the Academy of Light, an even more profound shift has been taking place. Now, The Echo can reveal a series of detailed insights into the cultural transformation driving the club forward.

The club’s cultural shift did not begin this summer, nor did it happen by accident. For the past several years, senior figures – including Kyril Louis-Dreyfus and Kristjaan Speakman – have been deliberately constructing a high-performance environment designed to underpin Sunderland’s long-term Premier League ambitions.

What has changed recently is the level of the people driving it. The arrival of Granit Xhaka, and other high-end professionals, such as Florent Ghisolfi, has added world-class finishing touches to a culture that was already being built. Sources describe Sunderland’s environment as “the most aligned it has been in years”, and Xhaka’s influence has accelerated that shift in ways few inside the club anticipated.

This is not a first-team bubble sitting in isolation. There is no hierarchy, no elitism and no separation between senior pros and the next generation. Instead, Sunderland have created an environment where Premier League footballers routinely step into youth dressing rooms, eat alongside academy players and even contribute personally to the youth team’s Christmas celebrations – a deliberate dismantling of old barriers.

At the centre of this integration is Xhaka, whose impact since joining from Bayer Leverkusen has gone far beyond his performances on matchdays. Though the Sunderland captain is not alone in his behaviours by any means, sources say he greets academy players by name every morning and makes a conscious effort to speak to them between sessions. Other small details at the club – ginger shots added to daily routines, nutrition tweaks, higher-intensity recovery habits – are all cited as examples of how standards have been subtly raised this season. In short, the arrival of Xhaka and Ghisolfi alongside others has elevated the existing high-performance framework to a genuinely elite level.

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Sources at the Academy of Light have suggested that Xhaka’s role extends far beyond what might normally be expected of a senior professional. Xhaka was recently spotted watching Sunderland’s U21s team, and sources describe him as having a hugely positive influence inside the building, from day-to-day standards to the softer, pastoral elements of supporting young players. Internally, his approach is viewed as setting an unmistakably world-class benchmark, both in the way he prepares himself and the expectations he places on others around him.

Xhaka, however, is not alone. The Echo understands that Sunderland’s new French contingent – including influential figures such as Enzo Le Fée and Nordi Mukiele – have also embraced the same behaviours. Their interactions with younger age groups are described by insiders as part of a “holistic” culture shift, where elite habits are passed down informally through training-ground conversations, tactical walkthroughs and daily routines rather than through any formalised programme. Together, they have helped create an environment where younger players are exposed to Premier League and Champions League-level professionalism every single day.

The Echo has learned over recent weeks that several senior players are effectively doubling as mentors behind the scenes. Simon Moore is working closely with the club’s young goalkeepers on mentality, confidence and game management. Moore, who is working toward his coaching badges, has been helping to run goalkeeper sessions alongside Neil Cutler and Mark Prudhoe and is described internally as “excellent around the club”.

This is a deliberate move from Louis-Dreyfus, Ghisolfi, Le Bris and Speakman – creating an environment where leadership is shared and younger players absorb elite habits through osmosis, not lectures. And as previously reported by The Echo, that mentoring ethos has already been visible on the grass: At one training session, Harrison Jones spent 20 minutes discussing receiving angles and manipulating a press with Le Fée – Champions League-level detail delivered inside Sunderland’s academy walls.

Recently, Luke O’Nien sat in on several youth team debriefs, having played with Graeme Murty’s side for a couple of games, offering observations, challenging young players and reinforcing the standards required to play for Sunderland. He didn’t have to be there. But he was. It’s why youngsters are improving at a rapid rate. And it’s why the club – top to bottom – feels aligned in a way it hasn’t for many years. The environment has moved to a markedly higher level since promotion, with expectations, behaviours and preparation now mirroring those of Europe’s top clubs. Younger players are now exposed to elite habits every day, while senior professionals are expected to model the culture and help reinforce it.

On the grass, Sunderland’s Premier League performances have underlined the club’s progress. Behind the scenes, however, there is a growing belief that something even more significant is taking root: a sustainable, unified culture in which every player – from seasoned internationals to first-year scholars – has a role in protecting the standards of the badge.

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