Sunderland supporters will be proud of their team’s early efforts this Championship season so far, with the Black Cats sitting at the very top of the tree going into the international break.

Nobody really knew what to anticipate from Regis Le Bris when he took over the reins in the summer after a topsy-turvy 2023/24 campaign saw Sunderland finish way below expectations, but the Frenchman has managed to successfully navigate any choppy waters that have come his way so far with an impressive six wins picked up from nine league games.

It will all be about keeping this form up when Football resumes after international clashes are over and done with, with Jobe Bellingham key to his side’s chances of staying put in first place.

Bellingham’s form this season

The 19-year-old continues to be one of the most exciting players at the Black Cats, as the youthful Wearside outfit begin to dream about winning promotion courtesy of their star-man’s heroics centrally.

He may well only have one goal and one assist next to his name so far, but it’s clear there’s plenty more left in the teenager’s tank, having helped himself to seven strikes last season even as his side struggled to leap into the top half of the second tier standings.

It wasn’t a bad strike either to get this 2024/25 account underway, hammering home a stunning effort past the Derby County goalkeeper right at the start of the month to help his team beat Paul Warne’s determined Rams 2-0.

With stunning strikes like these this season, and his exploits from last campaign meaning his spot in Le Bris’ XI is concrete, Bellingham might well feel he is deserving of a pay increase soon.

Sunderland might also want to tie down their top asset shortly, considering he has been looked at by the likes of Serie A titans Lazio in the past.

Away from striking gold with the former Birmingham City youth product, the Championship promotion candidates haven’t always got it spot on with their recruitment in the middle of the park, with one dud from the Tony Mowbray era going down as a costly mistake.

Bradley Dack’s wage at Sunderland

Very much a signing typical of Mowbray’s tenure at the Stadium of Light, Bradley Dack – who shone under the watchful eye of the ex-Sunderland boss at Blackburn Rovers – was a poor move last summer when reuniting with the 60-year-old.

Not costing the Black Cats a penny when it came to a transfer fee, Dack still didn’t justify his significant wage at the Club, which came in at an excessive £15k-per-week according to Capology.

However, although he wasn’t an expensive capture, his wages ended up being costly when you consider how many games he sat out through injury for the Black Cats, missing a total of 27 games in total last season due to absences on the sideline.

It’s not as if this was a fresh development for Dack moving to the Stadium of Light though, with two horrendous cruciate ligament issues bringing his once-celebrated time with Blackburn to a sombre end.

He would only chip in with a single goal and an assist when fit enough to play 17 contests for the Wearside Club, with Bellingham left wondering how he found himself on a lesser £12.5k-per-week salary, next to his injury-ravaged teammate earning more.

In total, the unfortunate 30-year-old would cost Sunderland £780k in wage costs alone, a dent to the second-tier team’s bank account that should have been avoided.

Dack was ultimately let go of by Sunderland in the summer for nothing, with his demise now seeing him back on the books of Gillingham in League Two, who he started his EFL journey with in 2012.

Sunderland won’t dwell too much on their errors, however, as the new-look Black Cats side at Le Bris’ disposal eye up more wins when Championship Football kicks back into gear shortly.

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