Goodman, who spent three years with Sunderland, says with manager Regis Le Bris not ruling out Europe this season, the ambitions of the club and board are clear.
Speaking exclusively to Tribalfootball via a top site to bet on football, Goodman said: "Well, I think when I interviewed Regis Le Bris before the Spurs game last Sunday, I asked him if the fans could start dreaming about Europe. He didn't rule it out, but he said, 'look, our ambition is to be a top 10 Premier League club, not just this season, but consistently'.
"And I thought, I remember thinking, 'do you know what? That's really interesting that a manager would go public on that of a newly promoted team'.
"And I think the only reason that he's gone public is because I would expect Sunderland to go again this summer in terms of a reasonably big spend. And if the recruitment team do half as well again as they did last summer, then I think they're going to be in business in terms of going and having another good season.
"So, look, I think we can safely say they've surprised everybody, including me, in terms of what you would have thought before a ball was kicked."
Indeed, Goodman is backing Sunderland to build on last summer's superb market campaign this coming transfer window. The likes of Granit Xhaka, Brian Brobbey and Robin Roefs have all been outstanding for the promoted club.
Goodman also insisted: "And as I say often, it doesn't really matter whether I'm talking about a Champions League team, a Premier League team, a Championship, a League One or a League Two. Your goals and achievements will be defined by how successful your recruitment is. I just think the Sunderland recruitment has just been unbelievably successful.
"It kind of reminded me a little bit of over recent years how Brighton and Bournemouth and Brentford have brought players to the club that not many people have heard of, that have turned out to be roaring successes, really.
"So, I think if I was a Sunderland fan, I'd be feeling really optimistic, they've had an amazing season, they've done the double over the arch enemy and it's not beyond the realms of possibility, depending on the next couple of results, that they may even have a chance of a place in Europe next season. So, it's a great period, great time to be a Sunderland fan."