​There was a time when Kristjaan Speakman was at Sunderland, and a number of people doubted his approach, especially during those lengthy, months-long efforts to sign strikers. It was then that the club began quietly assembling a strategy of bringing in young talent for modest fees, with the aim of developing players and eventually selling them on for a substantial profit. Some of those early bets didn’t pay off, and a few players were moved on quickly, but the sale of Eliezer Mayenda to Rennes for around €25 million stands as the latest example that the process Speakman set in motion is alive, well, and delivering exactly what the club hoped it would.
Mayenda arrived for about £650,000 three years ago and left after contributing eighteen goals and assists in seventy-two appearances. His sale generated a very healthy return for a player who had been third-choice striker, starting only eight games last season. Back then, Sunderland were beginning to pursue greater financial self-sufficiency by turning small investments into profitable returns, a philosophy that has since become a hallmark of the club’s transfer strategy. When Mayenda joined, he was raw, and it required months of patience and a full pre-season to unlock the clinical striker he could become. This summer, the model paid off for him, and Sunderland exited a £20-odd million richer.
Mayenda is simply the latest product of Sunderland’s production line—a product of the club’s patient, methodical approach and the way the academy and first team are now integrated. For the fourth consecutive summer, a player has been sold for a substantial profit, and the money generated from those sales has been reinvested into new signings each year. This strategy demanded patience; at times it felt as though pieces would never click into place, but now the plan is bearing fruit and the rewards are tangible. Before Mayenda, there was Jobe Bellingham; before Bellingham, Jack Clarke; and the year prior to Clarke, Ross Stewart.
When you factor in the amounts spent on all of these players, including Mayenda, the total comes to roughly £6 million invested in acquisitions that eventually yielded significant returns. In terms of reinvestment, the money recouped from these sales has funded new signings, lifting the club’s overall expenditure on players to around £75 million. Even include Tommy Watson, Sunderland’s academy product who was sold for around £10 million last summer, and the cumulative reinvestment figure remains substantial.
Long before these returns became visible, there were those who doubted whether Sunderland’s new way of operating would translate into lucrative summer sales, perhaps even expecting staggered releases of £20-to-£30 million brackets. The club brought in players with the explicit aim of developing them and then selling them on, upgrading the squad as a result. That is precisely the position Sunderland finds itself in today. If Mayenda’s sale helps the club recruit forwards who can replicate his success and contribute to even greater on-field improvement and financial health, then this model will have proven its worth once again.