Breaking down Habib Diarra's debut
Sunderland's record signing makes a splash - Llew Davies pulls apart his debut
The average age of Sunderland’s promotion-winning 2024/25 Championship side was 23.5 years old.
Upon their return to the best league in the world, most clubs would supplement such youth with tried and tested experience - but Sunderland have not. While the additions of new club captain Granit Xhaka, the hardened Reinildo Mandava, centre-back Omar Alderete and the very dribbly Arthur Masuaku add a certain level of weatheredness, the rest of Sunderland’s eye-catching summer business has remained true to the ethos that brought them here.
Simon Adringa, Chemsdine Talbi, Noah Sadiki, Robin Roefs and Marc Guiu have all joined, with the biggest outlay being 21-year-old Habib Diarra. It took all of €31.6 million to prise him from BlueCo-backed RC Strasbourg, where he played three full senior seasons and established a strong reputation. It’s a gusty move in a vital window.
Diarra was one of seven new signings thrown straight into the line-up by Régis Le Bris in their opening match against West Ham, and played every minute in a triumphant 3-0 win. The average age of the team? 23.5 years old. Here’s how he got on.
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Habib Diarra’s role was easy to decipher. Sometimes you can get lost in hybrid pressing schemes and intricate rotations, but this was clear as day: Diarra was the highest midfielder, with Granit Xhaka and Noah Sadiki behind him, in a 4-2-3-1 shape. He was flanked by Simon Adingra to his left and Chemsdine Talbi to his right, with Eliezer Mayenda leading the line.
Diarra’s role against the ball was to press Guido Rodríguez, West Ham’s deepest midfielder. It was man-to-man across the pitch, with Adingra focussing on Todibo, Mayenda on Aguerd, Sadiki on Ward-Prowse, and so on.
It became apparent this was to be an off-the-ball performance for Diarra. The match quickly settled into a pattern of West Ham controlling much of the possession with Sunderland dropping into a compact shape, looking to break once they win it back, utilising the speed of their wide attackers and centre-forward.
