Sunderland may have had a decade to forget, but the Stadium of Light has witnessed some top quality talent.

The Black Cats recently plummeted from the top flight all the way to League One, in what has been an era of disappointment.

Off the field troubles led to problems on the pitch and Sunderland couldn’t cope in the extremely competitive Premier League, despite multiple great escapes.

Nonetheless, they have had some top quality talent.

Part of the problem leading to their demise was spending millions of pounds on foreign talent, but some of these were excellent.

Here we look at the top THREE most gifted players Sunderland have had in the last ten years.

Do you agree, or is there someone more technically gifted that is missing from this list? Let us know in the comments section below.

Jermain Defoe was the shining light in the Sunderland side that went down from the Premier League and earned himself an England call up at the age of 34.

Defoe scored over 30 goals for the Black Cats and is one of their most technically gifted players in recent seasons.

Darren Bent is another to score 30+ goals for the Black Cats, before being sold to Aston Villa for a big fee.

He actually scored the goal that relegated Sunderland, but will still be remembered as one of the finer players to grace the Stadium of Light in recent years.

Tony Blair once said that his favourite footballer was Steed Malbranque, the French winger who graced the Premier League as one of the more underrated players.

The former prime minister has reason to like Malbranque, who is one of Sunderland’s most technically gifted players.

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