Sunderland winger Abdoullah Ba looks set to leave the Stadium of Light in the January transfer window.
Ba joined Sunderland from French side Le Havre in the summer of 2022, and his performances were one of few positives for the Black Cats last season in a disappointing campaign that saw them finish 16th in the table.
However, Ba has surprisingly fallen out of favour since head coach Regis Le Bris’ arrival in the summer, making just one appearance in the EFL Cup so far this season, and he has been left out of the matchday squad altogether for the last four games.
| Abdoullah Ba’s stats for Sunderland (as per Transfermarkt) | |||
| Season | Appearances | Goals | Assists |
| 2022-23 | 32 | 1 | 2 |
| 2023-24 | 41 | 3 | 4 |
| 2024-25 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
After months of speculation over his future, Le Bris confirmed this week that Ba would be allowed to depart in January, along with fellow out-of-favour duo Adil Aouchiche and Nazariy Rusyn.
“There are players who haven’t really been involved who could maybe leave in January,” Le Bris told The Northern Echo.
“If you don’t have the opportunity to play and you have an option with another club that is good for your development, then sometimes that is a good option to take and move on.
“We will see what happens. We have to be mindful of the balance of the team and the squad.”
Sunderland fan pundit makes Abdoullah Ba transfer claim
When asked what kind of fee he believes the club will be able to secure for Ba, FLW’s Sunderland fan pundit Jack Austwicke predicted he could depart for around £2 million in January, and he backed Le Bris’ decision to allow the 21-year-old to leave.
“Abdoullah Ba is a funny one, he played a decent role last year in a poor season, and he was probably one of our most productive players after Jack Clarke,” Jack said.
“However, he still wasn’t really good enough, nobody really believed he was that good, and he wasn’t to be honest.
“He’s probably not a good enough player for Sunderland in truth, which is unfortunate because I quite liked him for a while, but he’s not at that level.
“Maybe we can get a decent fee for him, probably around £2 million, we won’t get much more than that.
“Maybe we could cash in on him while we can because I don’t think he’s going to make too much of a difference to the squad right now.”
Regis Le Bris could live to regret Abdoullah Ba decision
As injuries to his wingers continue to pile up, Le Bris may live to regret sanctioning Ba’s departure if he moves on in January.
With Romaine Mundle already sidelined, Tommy Watson has now been ruled out for two months, leaving Le Bris incredibly light in the wide areas ahead of the busy festive period.
As Ba is clearly not part of Le Bris’ plans, it seems unlikely that he will feature over the coming weeks despite the injury crisis, but Aouchiche’s bright performance after coming off the bench in the 1-1 draw with Bristol City on Tuesday night shows that the out-of-favour trio could still have something to offer.
Jack is right that Ba is probably not good enough to help Sunderland achieve their long-term ambitions, but he would have been a useful player to have in the squad this season in their promotion push.
