Sunderland fans will be excited over the return of ‘excellent’ star as first-team ambitions are outlined
Sunderland fans will be excited over the return of ‘excellent’ star as first-team ambitions are outlined
One Sunderland player will hopefully be seen in red & white before the conclusion of the 2024/25 season.
Despite recent shaky performances, Sunderland’s 2024/25 Championship campaign has been a resounding success, with the Black Cats holding down 4th position in the table as play-offs are as good as confirmed.
This is a remarkable fate considering where the Black Cats finished in the lacklustre 2023/24 season, as well as the fact that Sunderland have struggled with several injuries this season.
In particular, several signings’ game time have been hampered due to fitness concerns as Sunderland fans notably didn’t see Salis Abdul Samed in action until December, despite arriving on Wearside in the summer.
Even the two January arrivals of Enzo Le Fee and Jayden Danns have also picked up injuries, the latter of which we are still yet to see donning the famous red & white stripes of Wearside. However, there is another man we are yet to see in first-team action for Sunderland, but his return from injury will be highly anticipated based on what Kristjaan Speakman said about him when first signing for the club.
Kristjaan Speakman’s comments on unseen ace Ahmed Abdullahi should provide optimism for Sunderland fans
Sunderland signed Nigerian forward Ahmed Abdullahi in the summer, with the striker arriving with a brilliant record at youth level.
Unfortunately for Le Bris, he arrived with fitness concerns that have kept Abdullahi out of action for an extended period of time, with the Nigerian only notching game time for the U21s.
Whilst his return isn’t expected imminently, as Le Bris said: “Ahmed struggled with this injury. The injury is solved now, but there have been some ups and downs with the pain. The surgery was fine, successful, but sometimes there was a reaction to the load of the training sessions.
“So he just needs time. He is not yet ready to train with us, he just needs time.”
When he does finally return to action, Sunderland fans will and should have expectations of the Nigerian being thrown into first-team football when the time is right. That is because of Speakman’s previous comments on the youngster, who, per Sunderland Echo, said: “He is a natural centre forward, who enjoys playing in central areas, in addition to being an excellent finisher. He has an impressive goalscoring record at youth level and he recently stepped up into Gent’s senior team.
“We will give him time to settle and support him in that process, but he will bring immediate competition to our attacking line and we look forward to seeing him grow with us throughout the season and beyond.”
Ahmed Abdullahi will provide the squad depth needed to the attacking line
Despite Sunderland’s brilliant qualities in the final third this season, barring the recent trip to Coventry City, it is clear that the Black Cats have somewhat struggled by having a lack of options to choose from up front.
Le Bris and Speakman were hoping to solve this issue with the signing of Jayden Danns, who unfortunately arrived with an injury, just like Abdullahi.
When Abdullahi does eventually return to action, it will certainly provide Le Bris with many more options in terms of how he can shape up his front line, whether it be the Nigerian making an impact from the bench, or even starting in a front two, if either Eliezer Mayenda or Wilson Isidor were facing injury concerns.
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