"Our Ross Stewart replacement" - Wilson Isidor positioned as Sunderland AFC leading man | OneFootball

The Frenchman is reminds one of FLW's Sunderland fan pundits of a former fan favourite forward.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Wilson Isidor has taken everyone outside of Sunderland by surprise since making his debut for the club.

In the absence of in-form forward Eliezer Mayenda, the Frenchman quickly took his place in the starting XI and has made sure to take advantage of the opportunity that he has been given.

He scored three goals in his first four starts in the Championship, helping to maintain Sunderland's equally strong start to the season. But he has been a bit quieter in the past couple of games; as has everyone else on his team, in fairness.

Joining on a loan deal from Zenit St Petersburg, the expectations of Isidor, 24, weren't initially set that high. But we've been shown what Sunderland's recruitment team saw in him, and they look to have made a blinder of a deal with the Russian team.

The Black Cats have a buy clause for an already agreed fee for the 24-year-old, according to the Sunderland Echo. The local outlet's report added that if Sunderland win promotion to the Premier League, it will turn into a mandatory buy, but if they fail to win promotion, then it will be up to them whether they sign him permanently or not.

The agreed fee is said to be significant but reasonable, given the money being paid by Championship clubs for forwards nowadays.

One of those strikers that was bought by a second tier club for a lot of money was Ross Stewart, who left Wearside to move to Southampton last summer for £8 million, plus up to £4 million in add-ons, according to The Athletic.

He was brilliant for Sunderland up until his devastating achilles injury. They missed having someone like him last season, but, according to one of Football League World's Black Cats fan pundits, Jack Austwicke, Isidor looks capable of filling that gap left by the Scotsman.

Wilson Isidor could be Sunderland's Ross Stewart replacement

Isidor really reminds Austwicke of Stewart, with how he plays and his presence in front of goal. The 24-year-old will hope to do what the Southampton striker did for the Black Cats and help lead them to promotion.

"I think Wilson Isidor is a good shout for, not a club legend, but maybe, depending on how you view it, a top player in Ross Stewart. He was a brilliant player for us, scored bags of goals.

"He played a huge part in us getting promoted to the Championship, and Isidor plays very similar to him, just like him. Running off the defenders, running the channels, good finisher, lots of energy, good in the air. He's a huge player for us and I think he will continue to be that.

"I think we've got an absolute gem on our hands and, maybe, our Ross Stewart replacement, at last."

Sunderland will need a goalscorer up front to achieve promotion

The talk of promotion has largely been pushed away by Sunderland's head coach Regis Le Bris. He's reiterated how early in the season it is and how far it is to go until the point where they would be promoted, despite how good his team have looked for the majority of the season.

Completing their Premier League comeback certainly won't be easy. There will be a lot of hurdles to tackle. One major one - injuries - is already proving to be quite a test, but maintaining their current high standards will be the biggest deciding factor.

The hardest thing to do in football is score goals. Sunderland had been doing it at quite a good rate up until the last couple of games, in which they have failed to score in both.

Isidor and others finding that potency again in front of goal will exponentially improve the club's chances of getting back to the top.