Jamie Carragher was full of praise for Sunderland captain Granit Xhaka, before and after he scored in the 1-1 draw with Everton on Monday night.
The Black Cats continued their impressive start to the season with a point against the Toffees, on a night which looked like it was going to be very difficult for them.
Iliman Ndiaye scored a brilliant opener for the visitors at the Stadium of Light after 15 minutes, with Everton dominating the contest early on.
However, Sunderland worked their way back into the game and Xhaka scored an equaliser immediately after the interval as his shot deflected past Jordan Pickford.
It was a Man of the Match performance from the Swiss midfielder, which came as no surprise to Carragher as he named him the signing of the season before kick-off.
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‘He must be the signing of the season,’ Carragher said on Sky Sports.
‘When you think of someone who’s influential on their team, I’ve been calling Manchester City the Erling Haaland team, but is there anyone right now in the Premier League having a bigger influence on their club than Granit Xhaka? There can’t be.
‘An absolutely brilliant signing so far.’
After the final whistle, the Liverpool legend added: ‘For me I thought Granit Xhaka was absolutely fantastic again.
‘Not just the goal but head and shoulders above almost everybody on that pitch tonight.’
Granit Xhaka Premier League stats
Apps: 235
Goals: 18
Assists: 27
The 33-year-old made 297 appearances for Arsenal from 2016-23 before leaving for Bayer Leverkusen where he won the Bundesliga under Xabi Alonso.
He admits a return to the English top flight was a surprise, but the project at newly-promoted Sunderland was an appealing one.
‘I didn’t expect to come back to the Premier League after I went to Germany but in football you never know where you land,’ he said after scoring his first Sunderland goal.
‘After two years in Germany were I had a lot of good things with titles, gives you a lot of confidence with a coach like Xabi Alonso. He was the same player like myself on a six position, who gave me many advice, maybe better than me on the pitch.
‘But to be back makes me happy. I knew exactly the project from the club. To bring the experience and the quality and to show the guys day by day working. I hope I can help them. We have one objective, to give everything day by day, game by game and see where we land.’
The Black Cats climbed back up to fourth with the point and Xhaka was thrilled to contribute with a goal.
‘It makes me happy always to score and help the team,’ he said on Sky Sports. ‘Everyone knows I’m not a guy to score 10 goals in a season, but I always try to give everything on the pitch, try to give them the fight, mentality on the pitch, and the goal was a little bit of luck.
‘I’m very happy to score my first goal for this amazing football club and to help the team.’