Summer signing Granit Xhaka has been an integral part of Sunderland’s strong start to the campaign

Former Sunderland striker Jermain Defoe gave Granit Xhaka a glowing reference before his summer switch from Bayer Leverkusen.

Sunderland completed an audacious move for the 33-year-old following their promotion to the Premier League, and the former Arsenal midfielder has been an integral part of their strong start to the new season.

Xhaka contacted Defoe for some advice about the club and the area as weighed up the summer switch and received an emphatic response from the striker.

Defoe said: "Granit Xhaka was on my A licence so he messaged me and wanted to obviously speak about the club and he said, ‘what's it like?’ I said, ‘you'll love it there, the fans are amazing. It'd be good for you.’ Especially with his experience and he’ll help with the young players and stuff like that. And he's loved it. I am just really happy that they've started well.”

Defoe, speaking on the Could It Be Magic? podcast, also praised Sunderland for their excellent start in which they have taken eleven points from seven games.

He said: "It was amazing up there. I remember speaking to Darren Bent years ago when he went to Sunderland from Tottenham and he said to me ‘JD, the club's unbelievable’, like the atmosphere, the fan base and stuff. I remember my mate Gus Poyet signed me. More recent times it's been a struggle, you know, getting relegated and then you find yourself in like League One. Even then I thought, you know what, this club’s like a sleeping giant.

"I thought, at some stage when this club’s back in the Premier League for these young players to experience playing for this football club in the Premier League, it's something special. And obviously I've been following their journey and to be back in the Premier League now is unbelievable. And what a start.

"Honestly, even my time there, I can't remember being at Sunderland when we started the season well. It was always that we always started slow. Even when I played in, like, really good teams, for some reason we always started slow. But what a start for these players, I mean, Isidor the centre forward has scored in the home games and he has the No 18 shirt."

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Le Bris: Xhaka has had an even bigger impact at Sunderland than we expected

Régis Le Bris says Granit Xhaka's impact at the club has been even greater than he anticipated and praised Kyril Louis-Dreyfus for his role in getting the deal over the line. Le Bris says captain Xhaka he has been vital in the way he has driven up standards by example behind the scenes.

The Sunderland head coach played his part in convincing the 33-year-old to join but believes such an ambitious deal might have been beyond the club without the input of Louis-Dreyfus, who sold Xhaka on his vision for the club and his role within it.

"In the process everyone is important," Le Bris said.

"The manager is important, we spoke about the game model and the way we want to play, our ambition and togetherness, so I had my role. Flo and Kristjaan have their role. And I think Kyril was really, really important in that process. Kyril was really involved, probably more than many owners in that process. Everyone had their own strengths and own role and in the end we succeeded.

"He was really important because for us it wasn't a normal signing. It was something totally different and his involvement was crucial and massive. Granit's impact has been even more than expected, to be fair. Now we've experienced as a manager, coaching staff and teammates the way he behaves every day. His level is really impressive."

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