Chris Mepham's signing was a show of ambition from Sunderland
Yesterday at 01:00 AM
We've often had to be patient with deadline-day signings, but the Welsh international already looks like he's called the Stadium of Light home for years
Deadline day was relatively busy for Sunderland, with four players arriving before the window closed.
Heading into the big day, we'd been linked with at least three of the four eventual signings, but one of them came out of the blue and ironically, he's the only one we've seen out on the pitch.
Chris Mepham is a player with plenty of Premier League experience, which our squad does lack, so the news that he would be joining on loan for the 2024/2025 season was a significant boost for a defence that was looking fragile after the injury to Aji Alese, with others also in the treatment room.
Bringing in someone with sixty top flight games under his belt was probably high on Kristjaan Speakman's wish list, and signing a ready-made centre back has been a key move.
You can sometimes tell when a player has an extra level of composure in their game, and this is obvious with Mepham.
It could've been argued that he was thrown in at the deep end when he made his debut against Middlesbrough, but with the need to give Dan Ballard a rest, the faith of Régis Le Bris was placed in Mepham's hands, and was one of the best debuts a Sunderland defender has experienced in some time, as he formed an instant bond with Luke O'Nien.
Le Bris wants his team to press and to be hard to break down, and this setup makes the signing of Mepham even more important.
In Ballard and O'Nien, we have one player who's very good at carrying the ball and one who's never looked completely comfortable in doing so. So far, Mepham has shown that as well as being able to stand firm and do the basics, he can also carry the ball forward and find a teammate with a positive pass.
Playing the ball around at the back still gives me palpitations at times, but with O'Nien and Mepham, we have a couple of decent ball-playing centre backs. They're similar types of player and it's worked out well so far.
It's four games and counting for Mepham and his start to life at Sunderland has seen us keep two clean sheets in these games.
He's improved a defence that had already kept three straight clean sheets and he's become a leading figure in an area of the pitch that'll soon be looking stacked.
Options including Mepham, O'Nien, Ballard, Alese, Jenson Seelt and Leo Hjelde is the kind of strength in depth that'll have players fighting for a spot in the side.
Exactly who gets the nod will be an interesting dilemma for Le Bris when the time comes, but with the start he's made to life on Wearside, it's going to be hard for anyone to dislodge Mepham.
Signing a defender on loan from the Premier League was an example of the ambitions we have for this season.
Mepham was never going to sign simply to be a squad player, and in a few games he's already shown why he's got plenty of top flight experience. With a long season ahead, we'll occasionally be forced to chop and change the back line, but if Mepham remains a part of it more often than not, we'll be in a good place.
