Granit Xhaka brings European pedigree and composure in the middle of the park, Enzo Le Fee provides creative thrust, whilst Robin Roefs has proven to be a Premier League-standard goalkeeper between the posts - but none of them are Sunderland's most important player.
It is easy to understand why there may be debate among Sunderland supporters over who is club’s most vital asset. But looking plainly at what is keeping Sunderland afloat in the Premier League, the reality is obvious: it's Brian Brobbey.
A telling data visualisation published by X/Twitter user markstats.club highlights just how unprecedented Brobbey’s contribution to the Black Cats' cause is across the English top flight.
Brian Brobbey is the Premier League's best target man
The graphic plots Premier League forwards' ability at contesting long balls during the 2026/27 campaign, measuring how often an attacker is first to the ball per 90 minutes, against the percentage of those duels that result in their team retaining possession.
Under normal circumstances, there is an inevitable trade-off for centre-forwards. Strikers who contest a high number of long balls, such as Leeds United's Dominic Calvert-Lewin (7.1 per 90) and Nottingham Forest's Liam Delap (6.6 per 90), invariably lose their fair share.
In these two case studies, Leeds and Forest retain the ball just 53% and 38% of the time, respectively. Strikers Erling Haaland and Taiwo Awoniyi boast high retention rates between 67% and 70%, but contest far fewer long balls (both under 3.5 per 90).
For the most part it's very much one or the other: high volume OR high retention, not both.
Brobbey is the only player in the Premier League this season who bucks that trend.
The Dutchman is contesting nearly five long balls per 90 minutes (4.9), matching the workload of the division's workhorses, but Sunderland retain the ball on an astonishing 79% of those occasions.
He is the league's single-most radical outlier - nobody else in the Premier League can boast this combination of physical volume and security.
Brian Brobbey is the best target man in the Premier League this season When Sunderland go long from their own half and he gets to the ball first, they keep it 79% of the time. The average for forwards is 53%. Calvert-Lewin, who wins far more long balls, is at 53%, Delap at 38% https://t.co/Q5Ftm51HOxNovember 8, 2026
The broader tactical implications for Sunderland’s survival fight must not be overstated, though. For a relatively newly established top-flight side often forced into a low or mid-block, navigating sustained opposition pressure is simply a fact of Premier League life.
Without a forward capable of absorbing contact, killing dead balls and providing relief, clearances turn into recurring waves of defending.
Brobbey, then, functions as Sunderland's release valve. Whether it be pinning a defender, taking a 50-yard diagonal on his chest, or using his lower-body power to spin his marker, as he did so effectively against Chelsea defender Levi Colwill for the Black Cats' penalty last weekend, he transforms defensive clearances into controlled attacking-third possession.
That security allows Sunderland’s defensive line to step up, resets the team's shape, and gives orchestrators like Xhaka and Le Fee a platform to operate 40 yards further up the pitch without fear of immediate turnovers.
Losing Xhaka would harm Sunderland’s tactical discipline, losing Le Fee would diminish their incisiveness in the final third, and losing Roefs would likely lead to a drop-off in shot-stopping. But, losing Brobbey would cut right at the heart of how the team functions for large parts of games.
Without his ability to turn long balls into Sunderland possession, Regis Le Bris' side would either be forced to play through pressing traps they might not survive or watch clearances bounce straight back into their defensive third.
If Sunderland keep Brobbey fit, his hold-up play will keep them competitive against anyone. If he spends an extended period on the treatment table, the trapdoor will open, which given their first 10 games of the season, they can ill afford.
