Sunderland sporting director Kristjaan Speakman has pieced together a side full of exciting young talents who have the potential to grow alongside the club over the years to come.
Who did Sunderland sign this summer?
The Black Cats dipped into the market to add a whopping 11 players to Tony Mowbray's squad as they attempt to build on their success of reaching the play-offs last term.
Nectarios Triantis
Permanent
Timothee Pembele
Permanent
Jobe Bellingham
Permanent
Bradley Dack
Permanent
Jenson Seelt
Permanent
Adil Aouchiche
Permanent
Nathan Bishop
Permanent
Luis Semedo
Permanent
Nazariy Rusyn
Permanent
Eliezer Mayenda
Permanent
Mason Burstow
Loan
Speakman and the English head coach have added strength in depth to a number of areas with ten permanent signings and the loan arrival of Mason Burstow from Premier League giants Chelsea after his loan spell with Charlton last season.
Sunderland reached the play-offs in the Championship at the end of the 2022/23 campaign during their first year back at that level following their promotion from League One under Alex Neil.
Whilst a host of new signings have come through the door since they were last in the third division of English football, one player who has been on this ride with the club has been goalkeeper Anthony Patterson.
How much was Anthony Patterson worth at Notts County?
The English titan came through the academy system at the Stadium of Light and experienced his first taste of professional football during a loan spell with Notts County in 2021.
He spent the first half of the 2021/22 campaign with the then-Non-League outfit and made 13 appearances in all competitions for the club, which included nine National League matches.
By the end of that loan in December 2021, FootballTransfers placed his Expected Transfer Value (xTV) at €200k (£171k), which is not a surprise when you consider that he had yet to play in the Football League at that point.
Patterson had, however, racked up 53 appearances for Sunderland's U21 side and had caught the eye at U18 level with eight clean sheets in 28 outings.
How has Patterson performed for Sunderland?
The England U21 international was eventually handed his first-team league debut by Lee Johnson in January 2021 and then became a regular under Alex Neil, who replaced the former later that month.
Patterson went on to play 23 League One games during the second half of the 2021/22 campaign and averaged a Sofascore rating of 6.88 as he saved 70% of the efforts on his goal.
The talented youngster kept ten clean sheets across those outings and did not make a single error leading to a shot or goal for the opposition, which suggests that he was a reliable option between the sticks for the Scottish head coach in spite of his lack of experience heading into that run of matches.
His season culminated in a terrific display at Wembley against Wycombe in the play-off final. Patterson kept a clean sheet and recorded a Sofascore rating of 7.5 as he made three saves, one punch, and completed two high claims to alleviate the pressure from his defence.
This means that his first campaign in professional football ended with him putting in a superb performance to keep a shutout at the most prestigious stadium in England to help earn his team promotion back to the Championship.
Patterson was then tasked with delivering at a higher level during the 2022/23 season and was given a show of faith by Mowbray, who came in to replace Neil in August 2022, as the former Blackburn Rovers boss stuck by the youngster instead of going for a more experienced option.
In September 2022, which was shortly after the manager arrived, Football Transfers placed the goalkeeper's xTV at €700k (£600k) as he had yet to prove himself at Championship level.
How much is Anthony Patterson worth now?
At the time of writing (09/09/2023), Patterson's current xTV is a whopping €9.2m (£7.9m) and this is a staggering 1,214% increase on the €700k he was valued at this time last year.
His market value has soared as Mowbray trusted the talented youngster to be his number one and allowed him to flourish with regular football in the second tier.
The 23-year-old colossus, whose reactions were dubbed "magnificent" by journalist Josh Bunting, was an ever-present for Sunderland last term as he played every single minute of their league season and averaged a Sofascore rating of 6.88, which was the eighth-best within the squad.
He saved two of the six penalties that the team conceded throughout the season and kept 14 clean sheets for the side as they made the play-offs.
Patterson is also exceptional at commanding his area, which is surprising for such a young goalkeeper with little experience of first-team football, as he ranked within the top 9% of goalkeepers for the percentage of crosses he stopped (10.7%) last term.
This essentially means that he is one of the best in his position at dealing with balls into the box and is, therefore, able to take some of the pressure off his defenders as they do not have to deal with as many crosses due to his ability to pluck the ball out of the sky above their heads.
The shot-stopper is also reportedly earning a wage of £4.5k-per-week and 12 first-team players, including loanees Amad Diallo and Joe Gelhardt, were on more than him during the 2022/23 campaign.
This suggests that the club got fantastic value for money out of the academy graduate last term as he was the eight-highest-rated player in the squad based on his average Sofascore rating.
Patterson has also now started the current season in fantastic form between the sticks for Sunderland. He has averaged a Sofascore rating of 7.06 across five Championship matches so far, which is the eighth-best score in the team, and kept two clean sheets.
Therefore, Mowbray unearthed a gem with the England youth international as his decision to back the giant ace as his number one, in spite of his lack of experience heading into last term, was a masterstroke by the head coach.
Patterson's value has soared as a result of his exposure to regular first-team football as his performances on the pitch have been excellent and, hopefully, he will continue to grow and develop over the years to come, whether that is at Sunderland or elsewhere.