Sunderland must learn from their 23/24 mistakes in chasing West Ham and Divin Mubama

Sunderland are expected to complete the signing of Divin Mubama following the expiry of his West Ham United contract but must be careful not to repeat the same mistakes of last season.

According to GiveMeSport, the Black Cats are the favourites to sign the 19-year-old. However, after a torrid 2023/24 season in the attacking positions, they must bring in more depth to help Mubama grow into the team.

The former Hammer played 12 times for his club last year, featuring in five Premier League games, three domestic cup matches and four Europa League games as West Ham reached the quarter-finals of the competition.

The 2022/23 Europa Conference League winners have been unable to convince Mubama to sign a new contract after penning his first professional deal at the London Stadium in October 2021.

Mubama does not have enough experience to trust him

Although he did make a few appearances for West Ham last season, Mubama is still lacking substantial minutes in professional football, making his signing a risky one for Sunderland.

He played the full 90 minutes just twice in senior football in 2023/24, playing for West Ham’s Under-21s in the EFL Trophy against Cheltenham Town and Colchester United, scoring in both games.

Mubama is extremely talented, however, Sunderland need to bring in more experienced players around him.

The 19-year-old has been surrounded by older players during his time at West Ham, and has been able to learn a lot from them, but the expectations placed on him in the Premier League were much lower than those he will have if he makes the switch to the Stadium of Light.

He will need to reach at least double figures in goals if Sunderland are to get beyond mid-table. However, a striker with a goal-scoring record in the Championship could be the perfect way to develop Mubama into a 20-goal-a-season striker in the future.

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Sunderland must act to avoid repeating last year’s mistakes

The Black Cats went all of last season without a striker with senior English football experience.

Portuguese youngster Luis Semedo wore the number nine shirt and made 23 league appearances, but failed to score in all of them. Mason Burstow also made a few appearances after joining Chelsea on loan, but only found the net in one game.

Ukrainian striker Nazariy Rusyn joined the club on the final day of the year in the hope that he could replace the goal threat lost by the sale of Ross Stewart to Southampton. But Rusyn was plagued by inconsistency, scoring just two goals – eight fewer than Stewart scored in just 13 games the previous season.

Eliezer Mayenda was another of the youngsters tasked with leading the way in points last season, but a muscle tear kept him out of the team for the first few months, before a lack of goals saw him loaned out to Hibernian, where he also struggled, featuring in just two games.

Sunderland have instead relied on goals from elsewhere, with Jack Clarke scoring 15 goals from the wing, but he has been heavily linked with a possible move from the north-east this summer.

If Clarke is sold, Sunderland will lose 28.8% of the goals they scored in the league last season, with the winger’s goals earning them a gain of six points. A loss of those points would have seen the Black Cats drop from 16th to 21st.

Regis Le Bris cannot afford to be left without an attacking edge in his first season in charge, and with Sunderland’s 40,000 fans under pressure, a poor start could raise questions about his transfer tactics.

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