NILSON ANGULO: WHO ARE YOU?

Sunderland are set to bring in their third signing of the winter window, signing in 22-year-old Ecuadorian winger Nilson Angulo for a fee of £15 million plus £2.5 million from Belgian Pro League outfit Anderlecht.

Born in Quininde, Ecuador, in 2003, Angulo started his footballing days in the academy of LD Quito and made his senior debut for the club in the league in August 2021 as his side beat CD Olmedo 4-0. His first goal came in the following month, with him opening the scoring in a 2-2 away draw at Manta FC. Additionally, Angulo assisted the winner against Tecnico Universitario on the final day of the season and made a cameo appearance in the semi final of the Supercopa Ecuador, with his club going on to win the final of the competition.

The following season he really kicked on, scoring six and assisting four in 22 matches in all competitions. The attacker scored winning goals against Mushuc Runa in the league and Manta in the Copa Ecuador as highlights and also earned his first cap for his country in a 3-0 victory over Mexico in a friendly.

In summer 2022 he moved to Belgium via Anderlecht and made his debut from the bench in July but, in his first couple of seasons, the bulk of his minutes came in the second tier of the country with Anderlecht’s reserve team. Overall, he played 11 times (mostly from the bench) for the main team (with four of those appearances coming in the Europa Conference League) and 11 times for the reserves, scoring twice for the latter.

Angulo’s first goal for Anderlecht proper came in February 2024, as he grabbed a stoppage time winner in an away match versus Club Brugge. His goal contributions for the reserves also increased to five goals and one assist in the 2023/24 season. It was last season though when he played for the first team more than in the reserves for the first time. The young winger found the back of the net in the Europa League during the course of the campaign, scoring in a 2-1 win over Slavia Prague in the Czech Republic. On top of that goal in Europe, he scored once and assisted three in the top flight as he racked up nearly 40 games played in all competitions that season for Anderlecht.

This season, he’s been on an entirely different level. Nilson has been able to solely focus on game time for the proper team and has played 30 times in total, scoring seven and assisting eight. For good measure, in November 2025, Angulo found the back of the net for the first time for Ecuador too, contributing to a 2-0 friendly win against New Zealand. Notable moments this season have been, scoring and assisting in a 5-2 win at home to KVC Westerlo, getting two assists in one game two games in a row in the league in August, scoring and assisting in the same game again (this time versus KV Mechelen) and grabbing a brace in a match with KAA Gent last month.

He ranks near the top of the pile for statistics such as chance creation (sixth) and dribbles completed (second) in the Belgian top flight this season so hopefully he’s an improvement on Simon Adingra. Able to play on both sides of the wing too, he offers a level of versatility so can challenge multiple players for game time at once. 11 caps and a goal for Ecuador is nothing to gloss over either. Reportedly, he’s also quite close with Noah Sadiki, which can only help him adapt to life in England.