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Wayne Rooney, the former Manchester United and England striker, has said that Sunderland captain Granit Xhaka is “probably the signing of the season”, guiding them to the top four on the table in early stages of the Premier League. During the ongoing 2025-26 season, newly promoted Sunderland have started incredibly well, finding themselves in fourth place in the top flight with a whopping 19 points to their name in 11 matches.
The experience and leadership of Granit Xhaka, signed from Bayer Leverkusen for an initial £13m, has made Sunderland dream big in the Premier League despite the initial objective of a newly promoted team to stay up and build from there. He has been on the pitch for the Black Cats in every minute of all the matches in the top flight, scoring one goal and providing three assists, which proved to be a big difference for them in an unforgiving league since this August.
Granit Xhaka probably been the signing of the season. He has been brilliant: Granit Xhaka
While speaking on The Wayne Rooney Show on BBC, Wayne Rooney hailed the former Arsenal player by saying, “Coming back to the Premier League you wonder if he can do it. Obviously with a promoted team as well coming up, what impact could he have? But he's probably been the signing of the season. He has been brilliant.” Notably, he won two FA Cups with the Gunners during his time at the London-based club apart from making 297 appearances for them in all competitions.
The Swiss footballer was the captain of Arsenal for six weeks in 2019 before being stripped of the leadership role following a clash with the club fans. But now, the 33-year-old is a far more mature footballer as the captain of Sunderland, taking everything in his stride and helping the club achieve new heights upon returning to the Premier League in so many years.
Wayne Rooney also remarked, “Sunderland have got a very young squad as well. He'd almost be like a father figure and he'll be a big help for the coach as well to be the in-between man as captain.”
