We’ve Got Le Fée – I Just Don’t Think You Understand
SUNDERLAND, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 22: Enzo Le Fee of Sunderland celebrates after scori during the Premier League match between Sunderland and Fulham at Stadium of Light on February 22, 2026 in Sunderland, England. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images) | Getty Images Sunderland’s outstanding performance in their first season back in the Premier League has multiple components. Many of them revolve around the carefully curated crop of players who were signed after promotion from the Championship was secured.
You can take your pick from a list which includes Granit Xhaka, Robin Roefs, Omar Alderete, Reinildo, Noah Sadiki, Habib Diarra, Chemsdine Talbi and Brian Brobbey, and argue about who has had the greatest impact. Added to that are the players who have confidently stepped up from the promotion-winning squad – Trai Hume, Dan Ballard and the recent emergence of the Premier League version of Chris Rigg. Despite all the claims that all those players have, is there one player who has had a greater influence than the mercurial Enzo Le Fée?
In January 2025, Sunderland pulled off one of the most improbable transfers of modern times when the connection between a struggling talent in Serie A at Roma and a relatively unknown coach in the Championship combined to bring a player, who should have been beyond the reach of any Championship club, to Wearside. It was the personal connection, forged between Régis Le Bris and his protégé, that was crucial in persuading his creative countryman to swap the balmy Italian climes for wintry Wearside. Le Fée quickly established himself as a fan favourite, helping the club to a memorable double over the ‘it isn’t a proper derby’ neighbours from Teesside, with the deft skill and glorious touches that left opponents bemused.
Injury interrupted his ascension to Sunderland hero but he returned in time to deliver the pinpoint corner from which Dan Ballard achieved immortality by disposing of Coventry in the dying moments of the play-off semi-final. That image of him kissing the ball before he placed it on the corner quadrant is simply iconic. The play-off final victory triggered his permanent transfer to Wearside and he briefly became the club’s record signing, before Kyril Louis-Dreyfus embarked on a recruitment campaign that took the football world by surprise.
As the club began their first season back in the top flight, Le Fée’s place in the team was uncertain, usurped by new and exciting talents in midfield and on the wing. It seemed that the creative Frenchman would have to settle for a place on the bench, until an injury to Habib Diarra provided an opportunity for Le Fée to reclaim his place in the starting XI. And he has seized that chance with both hands.