How Sunderland stormed the Premier League: Inside Regis Le Bris' methods, the strategy behind their squad revamp and how Granit Xhaka's rousing leadership caught even his own team-mates by surprise

Soon there will be talk of important phone calls and value in staying humble but, first, Regis Le Bris must address the subject of a divided household.

Sunderland’s head coach is preparing to go to Old Trafford for just the second time this weekend. The first journey, 10 years ago, launched a love affair: a father-son trip of a lifetime to see the Manchester derby in April 2015 ended with the home side winning 4-2 and left young Noah smitten with the Reds.

‘I need to say he is a huge United fan but he will probably support Sunderland this time,’ says Le Bris. The addition of the 'probably' is accompanied with the knowing smile of a dad who understands family loyalties aren’t always guaranteed when it comes to football. 'Noah will sit in the Sunderland end.’

It will be an end full of colour, noise and optimism. Sunderland have only won at Old Trafford once in the Premier League era, a 1-0 triumph in May 2014 that banished the spectre of relegation, but they head for Manchester on Saturday believing anything is possible.

No story in this fledgling season has captivated quite like the one Le Bris and Sunderland have started to tell, 11 points from six games propelling them to fifth in the table and forcing a re-evaluation for what can be expected from teams promoted via the Championship play-offs.

In a proud and passionate city like Sunderland, the rhythm of football is crucial in dictating the atmosphere and you can feel the glow being generated by this impressive form.

Down on the regenerated sea front, where cafes are opening up and you can see windsurfers bobbing around in the bay, and through the centre of town, a fanbase that was desperate to see its team taken seriously is getting its wish at last, thanks largely to the impressive Le Bris.

‘But we have to stay realistic – and you have to keep writing that!’ Le Bris says, smiling again. ‘No, we have a good balance. Many young players with ambition, maybe not so much experience. We have ambition and we know that we might fail. That is possible.

‘We lost at Burnley, in our second game. That wasn’t the end of the world. They are a newly-promoted team, too, but it wasn’t a disaster. We came back and we were ready to work again. We know we will lose in the future. We just don’t get too high or too low. We have to stay balanced.’

That is all true – and sound advice – but the foundations being laid are strong. It took a huge effort in the summer, not to mention investment to the tune of £180million, to reshape the squad, but it has not been done on a whim.

Chemsdine Talbi, for instance, cost £17m, but the Moroccan winger arrived from Club Bruges with a Belgian Cup winners medal in his pocket. Nordi Mukiele, a French defender, won Ligue 1 twice with Paris Saint-Germain before heading to Wearside.

These are players who know what it takes to win. And then, of course, there is Granit Xhaka. Xabi Alonso made him a linchpin in Bayer Leverkusen’s team and loved the infectious attitude he spread around a group that became Germany’s first Invincibles.

Nothing has changed in Sunderland for the former Arsenal man, and a story Dan Ballard – scorer of the goal in the play-off semi-final against Coventry that meant all this became possible – tells Daily Mail Sport about Xhaka explains perfectly the impression he has made.

‘I was a scholar at Arsenal when he was there,’ says Ballard. ‘I trained a little bit with him but I was quite young. That team, back then, was full of stars and I was just a kid. I could see him from afar. I didn’t have too much to do with him but you knew he was a leader.

‘But when he came in here, he remembered me, which was surprising. I think it shows the kind of guy he is. When he came into the dressing room, he had a chat with me straight away. I never played a professional game at Arsenal, I just had the odd training match.

‘It was a nice touch for him to say what we he did but, now that I know him better, I’m not surprised. That’s the kind of guy he is. I didn’t think one player could have such an impact on a team but he’s an unbelievable motivator and he’s lifted standards. When you train, it’s like you need to impress him.’

Le Bris felt the same in the summer. Xhaka had other options he could have pursued but the mission that went into ensuring the Switzerland midfielder could not say 'no' began with the head coach answering his phone while away on pre-season in the United States and ended with a pledge from the owner.

‘In the process, everyone is important,' says Le Bris. 'When I spoke to him (Xhaka), I told him about the way we wanted to play. It was easy to connect with him. I told him about our ambition, our togetherness and I had my role. Kristjaan (Speakman), sporting director, had a role too.

‘But Kyril (Louis-Dreyfus) was very, very important in the process. He was involved, probably more than any owner would be. It was a collective effort – again. Everyone had their own strength, their own role. In the end, we succeeded.’

So will they succeed this season? That’s the question that everyone wants answering.

There was much to get excited about this week, after last Saturday’s win at Nottingham Forest, with Le Bris nominated for September’s manager of the month award and goalkeeper Robin Roefs, another from the summer recruitment drive, in the running for player of the month.

Surely it won’t be long before members of this squad find their shirts being displayed in the Fans Museum, just around the corner from the Stadium of Light and a  monument to the club and its greatest days.

On one shelf there are the original tracksuit tops worn by the players before the 1973 FA Cup final; in another casket are Darren Bent’s boots, shirt, a match ball, a copy of the Sunderland Echo and the beach ball that enabled a bizarre goal to beat Liverpool in October 2009.

‘We’ve got everything in here and the queue to get in on a matchday goes as far as the eye can see,’ says George Harrison, who is 78 and volunteers at the museum. ‘We’re doing all right, aren’t we? Saying that, I’d take a draw on Saturday.’

You fancy Le Bris would do the same (that would be one way to ensure that Noah would be happy at full time) but, regardless, the main thing is that Sunderland won’t travel with an inferiority complex. They will head to Old Trafford with their chests puffed out.

‘We still have to stay humble,’ Le Bris points out. ‘We have to respect Manchester United, they are a strong squad. They are struggling but they have strong players. They won at Old Trafford against Burnley and Chelsea. This isn’t a bad team. So we’ll just stay humble, try our best and we will see.’

It’s an attitude that has served them well so far. There’s no reason why it won’t continue to reap dividends. This journey can have many more happy memories.