Sunderland must try everything to release Papy Djilobodji

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Sunderland will reportedly seek legal advice over the situation involving Senegalese defender Papy Djilobodji. The centre-back has been AWOL all summer after the club dropped into League One. As reported by the Roker Report, he is now expected to return to the Black Cats for this week but will not train with the first-team. The report also suggests that whilst the current ownership structure is in place, Djilobodji will never play for the club.

It is quite astounding how poor an impact the defender has had since his reported £8 million move from Chelsea in 2016. He has played just 22 games for the club but fans will struggle to remember a single performance in which he covered himself in any sort of glory.

So what now for Sunderland?

The legal recourse will surely look into the possibility of terminating his contract. Djilobodji was not paid throughout the summer but will likely be entitled to his hefty and frankly undeserved pay packet now he has returned to the club.

“He has an awful lot of good attributes, he is naturally left-footed, he’s good on the ball, he gives us a little bit of composure so we can play from the back.

“He is a good passer, he’s very good in the air so there is certainly some good raw material to work with.”

– David Moyes discussing Djilobodji, his first signing as Sunderland manager

Sunderland can no longer shift the player in a transfer, unless teams from Portugal or Qatar show an interest, with most of the windows across Europe and the world now shut.

If Sunderland are to be rid of their expensive flop it looks like a long-winded process of cancellation could be in the offing.