Sunderland AFC player set to depart for European club regardless of promotion outcome | OneFootball

Lorient loanee Salis Abdul Samed is expected to depart Sunderland this summer, regardless of how the Black Cats fare in the play-offs.

As Sunderland prepare for the first-leg of their Championship play-off semi-final tie with Coventry City on Friday, it has been reported that on-loan midfielder Salis Abdul Samed is expected to depart the club at the end of their season.

The Black Cats have struggled at the back end of this season with Regis Le Bris seemingly struggling to motivate his side with fourth place locked in with around a month of the campaign to go.

Their 1-0 defeat to a manager-less Queens Park Rangers side at the Stadium of Light at the weekend means that they head into the play-offs having suffered five defeats on the bounce in the Championship.

Le Bris arrived on Wearside last summer having overseen Lorient’s unfortunate relegation to Ligue 2 last season and brought in Abdul Samed from Ligue 1 side Lens on a season-long loan.

It has been a disrupted and frustrating season for the 25-year-old Ghana international defensive midfielder and it now appears as though he will depart the club regardless of what happens in their play-off campaign.

Abdul Samed to depart Sunderland for Danish club

According to Anna Granville in an interview with Africa Foot, Danish Superliga side Sonderjyske, who look set to avoid relegation from the Danish top-flight following their promotion as second-tier champions in the 2023/24 season, have opened talks with the representatives of Abdul Samed about a move this summer.

Anna Granville, an assistant for the Talent and Social department at Supernova Management, who are the agency that represent Abdul Samed has said that playing time is crucial for the Ghanaian midfielder and that Sonderjyske are pushing for a deal:

“Towards the end of last week we received an official contact from Sonderjyske as they wanted clarification on the exact situation in Salis. The feeling is that they will insist on an agreement, especially with Lens, who is the main owner of the player at the moment.

For out part, we believe that Salis must play more than he has done this season and we will work to achieve this.”

Having joined Clermont on an initial loan deal from JMG Academy in 2019, Abdul Samed made 12 appearances for their first-team in Ligue 1 before joining permanently in 2021 and becoming a key man in their midfield in the French top-flight.

He moved to Lens in the summer of 2022 and was once again a big player for Lens as they finished as Ligue 1 runners’ up in the 2022/23 campaign before a seventh placed finish in the 2023/24 season. Franck Haise’s departure for Nice allowed Sunderland to pounce on what appeared to be a coup last summer.

However, injuries and generally poor form from the Ghanaian has limited his playing time with the Black Cats and he has made just ten appearances in the second-tier this season for the promotion contenders.

A busy summer is expected at Sunderland

Regardless of whether or not Sunderland go up this summer, Salis Abdul Samed is expected to be a part of what could well be a busy summer of change at the Stadium of Light – especially in terms of outgoings.

Tommy Watson is set to join Brighton and Hove Albion at the end of this season, whilst other starlets such as Dan Neil and Chris Rigg have been linked with moves away. Jobe Bellingham is another player who has been regularly linked with moves to even the likes of Manchester United and Real Madrid.

As well as that, Wolverhampton Wanderers have been linked with a swoop for full-backs Trai Hume and Dennis Cirkin so there appears to be a fair bit riding on their play-off campaign.

Sunderland head to the CBS Arena to face Coventry City in the first-leg this week before the return leg at the Stadium of Light next Tuesday evening. The winner of the tie will face the winner of Sheffield United and Bristol City at Wembley Stadium.