Sunderland have made several exciting additions this summer, but few grabbed the headlines like the signing of Florian Wirtz at Liverpool did.

The Reds spent a British record £116m on the Germany international, after he scored 57 goals and provided 65 assists in 197 appearances for Bayer Leverkusen.

You would therefore presume Florian Wirtz would be the greatest loss at Bayer Leverkusen this summer, but Patrik Schick has now told Sunderland they are responsible for the biggest setback at the BayArena after taking Granit Xhaka.

Patrik Schick says Granit Xhaka is a more significant loss for Bayer Leverkusen than both Florian Wirtz and Jeremie Frimpong

It has been a rough summer for the Bundesliga side, who initially lost Xabi Alonso to Real Madrid before Frimpong, Wirtz and Xhaka – who West Ham also considered – followed the Spaniard out of the exit door.

Of all these setbacks, Schick feels the latter is the greatest loss, telling Blick: “I think that’s the biggest loss.

“He (Xhaka) was the most important player for the whole team. He was a leader. He was the player with the most experience.”

The captain of Switzerland was a hugely influential figure at Bayer Leverkusen, almost guiding the German side to a historic Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal and Europa League treble in his first season during the 2023/24 campaign.

Xhaka scored the only goal in the DFB-Pokal final win over Kaiserslautern and made 32 Bundesliga starts as Bayer Leverkusen won the title, only falling short in the Europa League final against Atalanta.

Sunderland have made history in signing Granit Xhaka

The 32-year-old represents a real coup for Sunderland, who have only just come up from the Championship.

It suggests those at the Stadium of Light are pitching a very exciting project to players, having also snapped up Habib Diarra, Simon Adingra, Chemsdine Talbi, Reinildo Mandava and Noah Sadiki this summer.

The Black Cats are also not keeping a tight grip on the pursestrings to give themselves the best possible chance of surviving in the Premier League next season.

TBR Football understand Sunderland have handed Xhaka the best contract in their history, surpassing the £67,000-a-week wages Enzo Le Fee is believed to earn on Wearside.

If the new Sunderland No.34 can keep the Black Cats up, his salary and the £17.3m transfer fee will feel like a bargain.