According to The Guardian, Sunderland have sacked Papy Djilobodji for alleged breaches of contract. The Senegalese centre-back failed to report for his duty at Sunderland and waited until the end of the month to return to training. Furthermore, he returned in poor shape and comprehensively failed the fitness test. (h/t The Guardian)
The former Chelsea man made his move to Sunderland in 2016 for a fee of £8m and featured in 23 games across all competitions in his debut season at the club. He came up with some impressive performances but they were not enough to save the club from relegation to the Championship.
The 29-year-old returned to France’s top-flight with a loan deal at Dijon, where he made a total of 30 appearances. On the other hand, Sunderland suffered their second consecutive relegation as they were relegated from the Championship to the League One.
Given that he has been sacked by Sunderland after the transfer deadline, Premier League and Championship clubs cannot sign Djilobodji before January. However, here are two ideal destinations for Djilobodji to join in January.
Manuel Pellegrini’s West Ham have made a torrid start to their Premier League campaign. To be fair, much of their woes have been down to sloppy defending this season.
Although Pellegrini revitalized the defence by signing Fabian Balbuena and Issa Diop in the summer, the new duo is yet to establish a solid partnership at the back. Meanwhile, Angelo Ogbonna has lacked composure and has been out of sorts lately.
The Hammers conceded 10 goals from their first four games and they need to achieve a better defensive record if they are to have any chances of avoiding relegation. And they could do that by signing Papy Djilobodji. He has loads of experience under his belt and could bring a strong sense of physicality to West Ham’s defence with his towering frame.
Steve Bruce’s Aston Villa were expected to compete for top-flight promotion this season but much like West Ham, their performances have suffered due to a poor defensive record.
Villa have conceded 12 goals from their initial seven games in the Championship and currently sit 12th in the standings. The 4-1 drubbing against Sheffield Wednesday, in particular, should be enough to force the manager to seek defensive reinforcements in January.
To that end, signing an experienced free agent like Djilobodji should be a good ploy to solve their defensive issues.
