Marcin Bulka. (REUTERS/Stephane Mahe)
Fresh off their long-awaited return to the Premier League, Sunderland are wasting no time in preparing for the challenge ahead.
Their dramatic playoff final win over Sheffield United ended an eight-year top-flight absence—but with big names like Southampton, Ipswich, and Leicester all crashing back down last season, survival is anything but guaranteed.
Head coach Régis Le Bris knows his squad will need to hit the ground running, especially after losing breakout midfielder Jobe Bellingham to Borussia Dortmund. The 19-year-old is following in the footsteps of his older brother Jude, leaving a sizeable hole in Sunderland’s midfield.
Fortunately for Black Cats fans, the club’s recruitment drive is well underway. French midfielder Enzo Le Fée, who impressed during his loan spell last season, has joined permanently from Roma. Sunderland are also pushing for deals involving Cameron Carter-Vickers, Japhet Tanganga, and Strasbourg’s Habib Diarra.
But perhaps the most intriguing development is their reported interest in Polish goalkeeper Marcin Bulka.
Sunderland Open Talks with Marcin Bulka
According to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, Sunderland have opened talks with OGC Nice for the 25-year-old shot-stopper, who has attracted attention from several clubs this summer.
The Black Cats are said to be serious contenders, seeing Bulka as a key piece of their Premier League puzzle.
A former Chelsea academy product, Bulka never made a senior appearance for the Blues before moving to Paris Saint-Germain in 2019.
After several loan spells—including a stint at Nice—he joined the Ligue 1 club permanently in 2022 and hasn’t looked back. Since then, he’s registered 30 clean sheets in 96 appearances and earned widespread praise for his consistency and professionalism.
In September 2023, after Bulka was named UNFP Ligue 1 Player of the Month, then-Nice manager Francesco Farioli called him “one of the most-watched goalkeepers in international football.”
“He knows the level that he has to stay at. He is a serious, hard-working boy who has his head well screwed on. He knows he has to continue to work with his hunger, for himself and for the team,” Farioli said.
As Sunderland continue to rebuild with ambition, Bulka could prove to be a major addition between the posts—and possibly a game-changer in their Premier League campaign.
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