Age and wages will leave Sunderland struggling to sell Papy Djilobodji

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There is a sense of excitement around Sunderland at the moment, despite their relegation to League One. It is only the second time the club has featured in the third-tier of English football but with a new owner, new manager and a new first-team shaping up, there are reasons to be positive.

Of course, there is also some deadwood to trim. Four players who are all expected to leave Sunderland this season are currently still on the books. Didier Ndong, Lamine Kone, Bryan Oviedo and Papy Djilobodji are all set to leave this summer.

The latter will no doubt prove the hardest to sell.

Djilobodji joined Sunderland from Chelsea in the summer of 2016 for a fee in the region of £8 million. The Senegalese star went on to become an undoubted failure at the Stadium of Light.

Despite impressing on loan at Werder Bremen before his move to Wearside, he flopped dramatically. He played 21 times as Sunderland were relegated from the Premier League, failing to impress in any of his appearances.

Now, despite the fact he had a half-decent spell at Dijon on loan last season, selling the player will not be easy.

The 29-year-old, who has had his wages stopped after failing to report for pre-season training, turns 30 in December. Sunderland will want to recoup as much of their £8 million fee as possible, although surely know that is increasingly unlikely. Nobody will go near that price for a failing talent approaching his 30th birthday.

“He has requested not to come back – no we are not paying his wages.”

– Sunderland owner Stewart Donald on Papy Djilobodji

Then there are his wages. Djilobodji is reportedly on £33,000-a-month, according to L’Equipe, which no club will want to pay for his services. that equates to £1.7 million-a-year. 

Sunderland must do what they can to get rid of the Senegalese defender. But finding someone to stump up cash and buy him? That is looking like a tall order.