It’s hard to think of a better summer signing by a newly promoted Premier League team than Granit Xhaka to Sunderland.

Xhaka ran the show and scored his first goal for the Black Cats as Sunderland drew 1-1 at home with Everton on Monday night.

Xhaka against Everton: Key statistics

Scored with his only shot to earn a draw
5 key passes (most by 3)
60 accurate passes
3 successful tackles
Dispossessed 0 times
8.31 WhoScored match rating (game high)

There has not been a better Premier League signing this season than Xhaka, who made the interesting decision to leave Champions League side Bayer Leverkusen for newly promoted Sunderland.

It was a bizarre move for a player capable of shining in the Champions League because the last six promoted teams have gone straight back down. It felt like potential career suicide for the player, but you’d struggle to find someone who thought it was a bad signing for Sunderland at the time.

His importance was clear to see right away when he was handed the captaincy. They knew it was a massive coup and that Xhaka would raise the levels of his new teammates through his performances and leadership, on and off the pitch.

The former Arsenal midfielder has set the standard from day one, and his performance against Everton on Monday night was exceptional — his best yet since returning to England.

Xhaka makes wasteful Everton pay with exceptional performance

Xhaka isn’t renowned for his goal scoring, and when he does find the net, it’s usually a beauty. But that wasn’t the case as James Tarkowski’s touch steered the Switzerland captain’s low shot past ex-Black Cat Jordan Pickford, less than a minute into the second half.

Sunderland struggled in the opening 45 minutes and were less than a foot away from going behind within 12 seconds when James Garner struck just wide, and Everton’s early dominance paid off when Iliman Ndiaye scored an outstanding solo goal in the 15th minute.

Thierno Barry had a chance to make it two when he skied a close-range shot with the goal at his mercy, and when you miss chances like that while you’re on top, you always have the feeling it will come back to bite you.

With Everton only a goal ahead at half time, exactly that happened. Sunderland were comfortably the better side in the second half, but maybe Pickford could have been busier.

Again, though, it was another significant contribution from the Sunderland captain, who is comfortably the Premier League signing of the season.

Xhaka is Premier League signing of the season

The six promoted clubs over the last two years have not made a signing like Xhaka, and that has contributed to them all going straight back down to the Championship.

These teams give themselves a great chance of survival if they sign a talismanic figure. Raphinha helped Leeds United stay afloat, and they sunk when he left. Xhaka is now Sunderland’s leader and the biggest reason they are fourth in the Premier League table.

That position is tangible proof that Xhaka has raised the standards, and his comments after Monday’s 1-1 draw also underlined that.

Disappointed by his side’s first 25 minutes at the Stadium of Light, the 33-year-old said: “We started like we finished training yesterday. At this level, we have to show our standards day by day. How you train, you play. We knew we had to be ready from the beginning. We weren’t.”

He added: “I didn’t expect to come back to the Premier League after I went to Germany. I knew exactly the project. To bring the experience, to show the guys day by day working. I hope I can help them.”

Digging out his teammates and letting them know there can’t be any coasting comes across well when you’re walking the walk, and that’s exactly what Xhaka is doing. He has the ability and personality to justify those sorts of comments.

Xhaka preparing for ’emotional’ Arsenal clash

Next up for Xhaka is a match against his former club Arsenal.

“An emotional game for myself. To play against them here at Sunderland is very special,” he said.

Seeing how he copes against Declan Rice and Martin Zubimendi will be very intriguing, in what is Sunderland’s biggest test since being promoted.

He ran the show against Everton, just as he has several times already in 2025/26, but Arsenal are a completely different proposition. It will be more about how he can contribute defensively, rather than offensively.

Everything he did in that second half on Monday was in the attacking half, and his crossing, passing, and finishing made the difference and was once again levels above his teammates.

Can he raise those levels even higher to produce a scalp against Arsenal?

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