Sunderland dealt massive blow as Habib Diarra injury details emerge
Habib Diarra was absent from Sunderland’s recent clash with Aston Villa through injury.
Sunderland battled hard to secure a point against Aston Villa on Sunday afternoon, and they had to do so without their club-record signing.
Diarra picked up an injury in Sunderland training prior to the game and was left out of the matchday squad as a result.
Regis Le Bris hinted that Diarra could be back after the international break, but after the latest update, things are looking far worse for the Black Cats.
Habib Diarra ruled out for months
Diarra has impressed at Sunderland since making the £30million move from Strasbourg in the summer.
However, his progress has been halted with immediate effect with a groin injury that was sustained in training, and according to Keith Downie on X, it will rule him out until December.
Diarra’s stats in the Premier League
- 1 chance created
- 6 duels won
- 82.3% pass accuracy
- 93 completed passes
- 11 touches in the opposition box
Diarra underwent surgery for the injury over the weekend, and his absence is going to be a huge blow for the Black Cats going forward.
As for how Sunderland will cope without him, they fared fairly well against the Villans, but often lacked that drive from midfield, which Diarra provided consistently.
Chris Rigg was handed his first Premier League start in his absence, and the expectation would be that he is now set for an extended run in the team as a result.
Sunderland may have Habib Diarra throughout AFCON after all
Sunderland have several players away for AFCON in December, and Diarra was expected to be one of them, having featured regularly for Senegal over the last year or so.
However, with this injury set to rule him out until December, there will be questions about whether he is able to make the competition.
Sunderland will want to manage him themselves when he returns, and if he remains on Wearside, it will be an unexpected boost throughout the Christmas period.
However, as of right now, there’s no other way of looking at this without describing it as a massive, massive blow for the Black Cats.
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