Spanish striker could fix Sunderland AFC issue that has plagued them: View | OneFootball

Eliezer Mayenda looks like he could be the solution to Sunderland's long-standing striker woes

It's been a fantastic start to the Championship season for Sunderland under Regis Le Bris, and the performance of young striker Eliezer Mayenda in their recent 4-0 rout of Sheffield Wednesday has given the Black Cats faithful cause for optimism.

The 19-year-old bagged two goals as Sunderland made it two from two in the league, and he may just have cemented his position as Le Bris' first choice striker going forward thanks to his performance on Sunday afternoon.

As Sunderland supporters will be all too aware of, striker has been a real problem position for them in recent times, and their failure to sign an out-and-out goalscorer last season contributed to their slide down the table and eventual 16th place finish.

Sunderland are yet to sign a new striker, leading to concerns from supporters prior to their Championship campaign starting, but after what they saw on Sunday afternoon from Mayenda, they may now feel that they have a striker capable of scoring goals already on their books and their problems up front could well be fixed.

Eliezer Mayenda could fix Sunderland's striker problems

19-year-old Mayenda endured a tough first season at the Stadium of Light after joining from French side Sochaux last summer and an injury meant that he didn't make his debut until November, playing just eight times before he was loaned to Scottish Premiership side Hibernian.

Things got even worse for Mayenda north of the border, and he failed to score in four appearances for the side from Easter Road, finding game time hard to come by.

Having struggled in Scotland, it appeared that Mayneda wasn't quite ready for the rigours of Championship football, but he's been trusted by Le Bris to lead the line, and has done a good job so far.

He got 72 minutes under his belt on the opening weekend against Cardiff City, before scoring twice against Sheffield Wednesday in what would have been a huge confidence boost for him moving forward.

Mayenda's first goal was an excellently taken goal from outside the box, while his second was a tap-in, but the fact he was in the right place to put it away is a good omen going forward.

The 19-year-old Spanish youth international was highly-rated prior to his move to Sunderland, and based on Sunday's performance it's easy to see why.

With a run of starts, there's no reason why Mayenda can't continue to improve and become a regular source of goals. His brace against Wednesday feels like a turning point in his Sunderland career, and supporters should be excited about what he could do in the coming weeks and months.

The 2023/24 campaign was a miserable one for Sunderland's strikers, and in total their four strikers scored a combined total of just three goals.

Mayenda scoring two yesterday afternoon puts that into further context, and it's incredible how Sunderland managed to survive relegation relatively comfortably despite not having a striker who could score goals on a semi-regular basis.

Mason Burstow, who scored one of Sunderland's three striker goals last season, returned to parent club Chelsea after his loan spell with the Black Cats ended and subsequently joined Hull City, but Mayenda, Naz Rusyn and Luis Semedo all remain at the club.

Mayenda has already scored twice, two more than he managed last season, and has equalled Rusyn's tally from last season, scoring two more than Semedo has managed since moving to the club from Benfica last summer.

The likes of Semedo and Mayenda were always signed with the future in mind, but failing to score a single goal between them last season wasn't in the script, and things can only get better.

If Mayenda scores one more goal, he'll be the highest scoring striker on the club's books, and he looks set for a big season at the Stadium of Light after a disappointing first campaign.