It has been nearly eight years since Sunderland last played a Premier League match, losing 5-1 at Chelsea on May 21, 2017, and finishing bottom of the table with 24 points. After a decade in the top-flight, Sunderland dropped down to the Championship – they are yet to return.
By Zach Lowy
Just under a year later, Enzo Le Fée made his debut for Régis Le Bris’ Lorient B team, playing the full 90 in a 2-0 defeat to Boulogne-Billancourt. Having cut his teeth in the French fourth division, Le Fée would break into the first team in 2019/20 under Christophe Pélissier and steer them to the Ligue 2 title. Lorient finished 16th in their first two seasons back in the top-flight before deciding to promote Le Bris to first-team manager in June 2022.
This provided the impetus for Le Fée to unlock his lofty potential: only Paris Saint-Germain’s Lionel Messi (49) and Neymar (47) created more big chances in France than Le Fée (41), who finished as the seventh-highest rated FotMob player in the 2022/23 Ligue 1 season. Having scored 2 goals and 10 assists in his first 106 Lorient appearances, Le Fée scored 6 goals and 5 assists in 36 appearances and led Les Merlus to a 10th-place finish – their best placement in nine years.
“For a long time, Le Fée was clearly a technically gifted player, but it was unclear where he would thrive most on the pitch…he looked a bit lost,” said Baptise Reynaud, the co-host of the Le Classique Podcast.“His slight build and lack of end product were also worrying, but under Le Bris, in an ambitious side that played smart, courageous football, he was an absolute delight. He made the team tick as the No. 8 and always seemed to be in the right place at the right time, with a little dash of outrageous creativity once in a while. Boasting smarts and technical ability, he’s a gifted passer who’s capable of dictating play in a possession-based side and taking risks in the right areas on the pitch. He’s intelligent, versatile, and just needs to be trusted to be the team’s technical leader in midfield.”
After 15 years at Lorient, Le Fée departed for fellow Brittany side Rennes, joining for a fee of €20 million. Whilst Le Fée struggled to adjust to life at the Roazhon Park, Lorient failed to cope without his creative spark and were relegated. Le Bris parted ways at the end of the 2023/24 season and joined Championship club Sunderland, whilst Le Fée moved to Roma for €23 million, where he managed just 10 appearances. Exactly six months after penning a five-year contract with the Giallorossi, Le Fée decided to reunite with Le Bris at Sunderland, joining on loan with an option to buy for €23 million – an option that will be triggered should they achieve promotion to the Premier league.
On the face of it, it seems like a massive coup for the Black Cats. Le Fée has made 132 appearances in Ligue 1, he’s represented France at the U20, U21, and U21 level and played for them in the Olympic Games, and he has demonstrated enough talent to merit not one, but two lucrative transfers to two UEFA Europa League-level clubs. But just what can Sunderland fans expect from him?
Le Fée is an all-action No. 8 who has the spatial awareness to pick up the ball in tight spaces and evade pressure with his silky movement and nimble dribbling skills, and whilst he only stands 5’8” tall, he’s proven himself to be no slouch in physical duels. In fact, only Benjamin André (3.8), Andrei Girotto (3.4) and Laurent Abergel (3.2) completed more tackles per game than Le Fée (3.1) in the 2022/23 Ligue 1 season. He uses his low centre of gravity to his advantage by turning on a six pence and leaving his marker in his wake with an elusive drop of the shoulder, a player who thrives at attracting pressure and quickly extinguishing the threat. He’s always thinking one step ahead of his opponent, constantly scanning his surroundings and positioning himself well to receive in an ideal location.
Le Fée is someone who excels at driving forward with the ball, riding physical challenges, slaloming past markers and keeping the ball glued to his feet whilst maneuvering past physical challenges. Even after a year that has seen him struggle to convince at Rennes and Roma, he still ranks in the 97th percentile amongst midfielders for successful take-ons per 90 (1.72) and the 94th for progressive carries per 90 (2.65). These attributes should fit Sunderland’s counter-attacking style like a glove, and they should also provide them with another dimension against deep blocks. His exquisite vision and footballing IQ enable him to thread the needle and tee up his teammate with a perfectly timed pass. Above all, he’s someone who’s always looking to pick up the ball and make things happen, and he’s more than capable of cementing a starting spot as one of the No. 8s in Le Bris’ 4-2-3-1 formation. After working under five different managers in two different countries over the past 18 months, Le Fée will be hoping to knuckle down and find some stability under Le Bris.
Make no mistake: this is a statement signing for Sunderland, who find themselves locked in a heated promotion race, sitting fourth in the table with 50 points behind Sheffield United (52), Burnley (52) and Leeds United (52). At 24 years of age, Le Fée already proven his mettle as a superb ball-winner, a deep-lying midfield creator, and a fleet-footed ball carrier, and there’s reason to believe that he will provide an immediate boost in quality to Sunderland’s engine room.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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