‘GhisolfiBall’: Using Data To Find Granit Xhaka’s Successor

Switzerland's midfielder #10 Granit Xhaka celebrates scoring his team's fourth goal with teammates during the 2026 World Cup Group B football match between Switzerland and Bosnia and Herzegovina at Los Angeles Stadium in Inglewood on June 18, 2026. (Photo by Patrick T. Fallon / AFP via Getty Images) | AFP via Getty Images With the World Cup in full swing, it’s easy to forget that silly season is upon us.

With Florent Ghisolfi overseeing his first full transfer window at the helm, preaching “quality over quantity”, it’ll be interesting to see how the summer unfolds. I’m sure none of you have forgotten, but we have a European campaign to prepare for, as well as ensuring ‘second-season syndrome’ is avoided.That said, I wanted to take a look at the squad, the numbers behind it, and some potential options for the recruitment team to consider.

None of us know how the window will work out, but using last season’s knowledge and our current roster could help highlight some opportunities or concerns. Here, I’ll focus on how we can prepare for the future while also getting the most out of Granit Xhaka.Xhaka is class.

I want to lay that out first, but to borrow a boxing phrase, “Father Time is undefeated”.The Swiss international will turn thirty four in September, and Sunderland will play a minimum of forty eight games next season — up five from last term. Also, of the five games Xhaka missed last season, three of those led to defeats, albeit two of them were against Liverpool and Arsenal.

His importance to the squad is apparent through his leadership and composure, but ultimately we have no other game ‘controller’ in the squad, and we can’t — and perhaps shouldn’t — expect to get the most out of our captain in the key moments of next season without ensuring there’s an additional deep-lying playmaker in the squad.You should never shop when you’re hungry; likewise, we shouldn’t be looking at options in the market before truly understanding what Xhaka is good at, and how he dovetails