Luke O'Nien has been impressed by Sunderland's new arrivals - and is looking forward to them realising their potential next season in the Championship. The Black Cats have brought in four signings already - midfielder Jobe Bellingham from Birmingham City, Portuguese striker Hemir Semedo from Benfica, and defenders Nectarios Triantis and Jenson Seelt from Australia and the Netherlands respectively - with more expected before the season gets under way in three-and-a-half weeks' time.
Hemir and Bellingham have already been involved in Sunderland's pre-season, with the former on target in the weekend friendly win against South Shields while the latter played in the friendly win against Gateshead. And O'Nien says they have made a positive impression.
"They've been really good," said the 28-year-old. "The big man [Hemir] has adapted well.
"We've done quite a lot of running this pre-season and, for a big lad, he's put everything into it, which is what you want to see. Jobe has a lot of quality.
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"I think he’s already done about five nutmegs on me! The way he goes around the pitch, his ball manipulations, his quality is clear to see, and as characters, they'll bring a lot of value to the squad.
"There's a lot more people going to be in the States too, and it's good to have them in. I'm just looking forward to seeing them grow into the players they're going to be."
Sunderland's first two friendlies featured a mixture of senior players and youngsters, with strong starting line-ups giving was to youthful XIs in the latter stages. O'Nien played in the game against Shields, partnering 19-year-old Ben Crompton in central defence, and it was another teenager, 16-year-old Chris Rigg, who scored the decisive goal in the 4-3 win.
He said: "I thought Ben at the back was really, really good. He's done well in training.
"The way he's grown and adapted to first-team life has been really impressive and he's done really well. It'll be good to see him keep that going.
"Riggy has been brilliant from the moment he joined us last year. It's a big step to the first team, but he plays exactly the same every day, in training, in matches, whatever.
"A lot of the young lads are coming forward and knocking on the door, and I think that's brilliant for the club. We're seeing these players come through, hopefully to the first team, and that's only going to serve the club well in the future.
"I'm looking forward to learning from them as well as trying to help them grow."
O'Nien is about to embark on his sixth season at Sunderland and now finds himself one of the most senior members of the side, with only Corry Evans, Danny Batth, and Alex Pritchard older than him. He smiled: "Yeah, I know I'm old, even though I still feel really young!
"The team is evolving. From the day I joined to where we are now, we've been evolving with new players in and new styles.
"We're in a good place. I'm really enjoying it, I think all the boys are enjoying it, and I think these pre-season games are good because we're all getting to know each other.
"We want to be singing from the same hymn sheet at the start of the season, and pre-season is important in that."
Sunderland jetted out to the USA today for a ten-day visit which will see them face Texan side San Antonio FC in the early hours of Sunday morning (UK time), before heading to Albuquerque to face New Mexico United in the early hours of Thursday, July 20, and then heading to Raleigh to face North Carolina FC in the early hours of Saturday, July 22.
