Sunderland Have Found Transfer Gem In Jules Ahoka After Stunning Debut In Hull City Win

Sunderland summer signing Jules Ahoka made his debut in the Carabao Cup win over Hull City on Tuesday evening, and his performance has the Black Cats faithful brimming with excitement for his future.

In the summer window, Sunderland signed Ahoka from Royal Antwerp for £8.6m, which was a significant show of faith in the DR Congo youth international, considering he had made just four senior appearances for the Belgian Pro League side prior to his Wearside move.

Black Cats boss Regis Le Bris awarded Ahoka his Sunderland debut for the cup clash against Hull, with the 20-year-old replacing captain Granit Xhaka at the base of midfield, in what was set to be a testing affair given that the visiting Tigers had yet to concede a goal this season before they visited the Stadium of Light.

Chemsdine Talbi, who will stay at Sunderland following his links with a move to Al-Ittihad, stole the headlines for his delectable game-winning dink, but Ahoka warranted his man of the match nomination for his outstanding debut.

Of which, understandably, has the Sunderland faithful raring to see what comes next from the Congolese starlet.

In every third of the pitch, Ahoka was phenomenal on his Sunderland debut, and it appears that the Stadium of Light transfer team have unearthed a true gem in the young midfielder.

Defensively, the combative midfielder covered every blade of grass for Sunderland, making 12 defensive contributions- the most of any player on the field - and winning nine out of 12 duels to set the solid foundations for the Black Cats' victory.

In possession, Ahoka was also excellent, enjoying an 88 percent passing accuracy, keeping the ball ticking over whilst always looking to positively progress the play when possible for Sunderland with confident and intricate line-breakers.

Offensively, the 20-year-old was also impressive despite operating as a defensive midfielder, with Ahoka taking the joint-most shots (three) of any player throughout the game and enjoying a flawless dribble success rate to showcase his intent to impact the attacking proceedings of the game.

Stellar statistics aside, it was also the intangible and unquantifiable elements to Ahoka's game that made his Sunderland debut so exciting.

Considering that the Carabao Cup victory was just his fifth senior appearance in professional football to date, it was remarkable to see how much time the imposing midfielder had on the ball, which is a trait he shares with his midfield metronome mentor Xhaka.

The way Ahoka manipulated his body shape to shield the Hull opposition, read the game before others had done and ate up the ground in recovery, highlights that Sunderland have not only signed a wonderful athlete, but a midfielder with innate footballing IQ.

Sunderland sections of social media were awash with elation following the debutant's stunning performance, and rightly so as a result of his assured and glossy performance, which set the tone for the Black Cats' cup win.

Although the sample size was small, Ahoka showed he is an ideal understudy and heir to Xhaka's defensive midfield throne at Sunderland, and the player himself could not ask for a better exemplar than the Swiss veteran.

Evidently, it is important not to jump to conclusions and sensibly caveat the excitement with the fact that Ahoka is still a young player plying his trade and is yet to face the rigours of Premier League competition.

But regardless, the extremely exciting signs were clear to see against Hull, that the Sunderland starlet has an exhilarating future ahead of him at the Stadium of Light.