Sunderland are closing in on another new signing, with reliable journalist Fabrizio Romano reporting that Eliezer Mayenda has reached an agreement to move to the club.
Who is Eliezer Mayenda?
With the 18-year-old only in the infancy of his career, it means that there isn't a lot to go off when it comes to stats and performances from the youngster. The striker has only had one full campaign at professional, first-team level so far with current side Sochaux and that came in 2022/23 with the French side.
Despite his age though, he was entrusted to play for them on 15 occasions in Ligue 2, albeit only one of those appearances was an actual start. It led to the attacker bagging himself one goal – which, on the surface, doesn't seem like much. Mayenda though completed only 3.2 actual lots of 90 minutes, so it resulted in a rate of 0.31 goals per 90 on average, which is impressive for such an inexperienced raw talent.
The striker has also already been capped within his country's youth setup. He's played three times for Spain's Under-17 side, with no goals to his name as of yet. He was given his debut last year and if he continues to feature prominently in a well-respected first-team ahead of this campaign. then more appearances should follow for the teenager.
Are Sunderland signing Eliezer Mayenda?
Now, according to reliable journalist Fabrizio Romano, those showings may come in England rather than France. That's because Sunderland are now very advanced in their bid to try and land Mayenda it seems, with the Black Cats having finally reached an agreement with Sochaux to bring him to the Championship.
No deal has been officially confirmed and it also isn't clear how much a transfer will set the side back, but it looks as though he could officially put pen-to-paper on a contract with the EFL side on Saturday, as per Romano's update on Friday morning: "Sunderland completed the agreement with Sochaux to sign Eliezer Mayenda, Spain U18 highly rated striker born in 2005. Deal sealed, he will sign tomorrow as new Sunderland player."
If he does sign for the club, it would provide boss Tony Mowbray with another much-needed option in attack, given the uncertainty surrounding Ross Stewart.
Mayenda could slot in right away in attack and has only featured so far as a centre-forward in his career – so could fit in as a traditional number nine. He isn't a target man in the same mould as Stewart though, with the teenager only standing at about 5 foot 9 compared to the Scot's 6 foot 1 frame.
The Spaniard then presents a different type of option for the club in their forward line. In addition, despite being only young and having a modest scoring record in a first-team environment, there are those that have watched Mayenda in action and feel he has plenty of positive attributes. Football journalist Josh Bunting stated that the ace is "strong" and well capable of holding the ball and linking the play up.
Whilst his early stats suggest he isn't a poacher of a lot of goals (yet), if Sunderland can wrap up a transfer, it's another example of the Black Cats recruiting well for the future and giving talent a chance in the Championship – and so far it has paid dividends under Mowbray.
