The Sunderland Echo’s Phil Smith, Richard Mennear and Mark Donnelly discussed all of the latest news concerning the Black Cats on the most recent edition of The Roar Podcast and Donnelly spent some time praising the form of Sunderland midfielder Grant Leadbitter during the show.
Leadbitter has enjoyed a positive start to the 2020/21 campaign. As per WhoScored, the midfielder has started six of Sunderland’s seven League One games so far this term, earning an overall rating of 7.13 from those six appearances, making him the North East club’s fourth-highest rated player in the league this season.
Here is what Donnelly had to say about the in-form 34-year-old during this recent edition of The Roar Podcast: “He’s been fantastic. He’s kind of becoming that League One cheat code that everyone hoped he would be when he signed.
“He just looks a class above in the centre of midfield. Not only the balls he’s trying, but the balls he’s pulling off in terms of switching the play, in terms of driving Sunderland forward, he’s just going about his business, he makes it look effortless.
“It’s good to see him getting the praise he deserves, because if we were sat here six weeks ago and said that not only would Grant Leadbitter be back in the team but he’d be arguably the star man, you probably would’ve been a little bit surprised.
“He’s come back, he’s been excellent, he’s just gone about his business – and he’s made that place his own now.”
Has Leadbitter been Sunderland's best player this season?
YES
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TIF Thoughts on what Donnelly had to say about Leadbitter…
So, judging by Donnelly’s comments, it’s clear that he has been impressed with the midfielder’s performances for Sunderland this season, with the journalist going so far as to suggest that the 34-year-old has been his side’s best player this term.
Furthermore, it may be fair to say that Leadbitter’s passing has been a standout area for the £1.44m-rated man this season, so it’s not too surprising to see the journalist praising that part of his game.
As per WhoScored, Leadbitter has played the highest number of passes (48), played the third-highest number of long-balls (4.7) and maintained the joint-third-highest pass accuracy percentage (82.6%) of any Black Cats player per league game this term.
It will be interesting to see if Leadbitter can continue to perform at his current level as the 2020/21 season progresses.
If he does, then given his vast experience of playing at a higher level than England’s third tier, perhaps he can help to push the North East club towards promotion this term.