Sunderland left helpless amid latest Habib Diarra developments
Habib Diarra has been a talking point for Sunderland over the past week.
Sunderland secured a point in a 1-1 draw against Aston Villa last time out, though they were without Diarra at the Stadium of Light.
That is because Diarra underwent surgery for an injury sustained prior to the fixture, and has since been ruled out for at least three months.
Even Leeds fans have talked about Diarra’s latest blow at Sunderland, and it shows the risk that the Black Cats took in the summer.
This story includes exclusive comment from football finance expert Dr Daniel Plumley.
Habib Diarra is Sunderland’s club-record signing
Sunderland paid £30million to sign Diarra from Strasbourg, and while that may not seem like a steep figure for Premier League football, it is for a newly-promoted club.
The price was ultimately the reason Leeds left the table when it came to his signing, with finance expert Dan Plumley explaining how it was a risk for Sunderland in the summer, and how they have been left helpless since.
Speaking exclusively to Mackem News, he said: “It comes with the territory a little bit in the world of football transfers, they’re not without risk.
“For Sunderland to pay a club-record fee, it was a huge statement, and we said that at the time.
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
“It can’t be helped if the player gets injured. That’s just bad luck, and the AFCON situation, it’s not going to happen every season, so it might be a combination of bad luck in that regard.
“You’ve still got to back the deal that you’ve made, but this is one of those where there’s always an inherent risk with football club transfers, and one of them is injury, and there’s not a lot you can do about that.”
Habib Diarra will be a miss, but Sunderland have options
Chris Rigg started in Diarra’s absence against Aston Villa, with Lutsharel Geertruida later coming on to play a midfield role.
With Enzo Le Fee and Dan Neil to add to the conversation, Diarra’s loss will not be as big a blow as it may seem on paper, especially to those not clued up on Sunderland‘s options.
Competition is needed in the Premier League, and with the four mentioned above, Regis Le Bris has plenty of that in the midfield areas.
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