Aji Alese has shared his delight at taking a ‘massive step’ towards returning to the Sunderland squad.
The defender has only played 33 minutes of senior football since suffering a thigh injury in March.
Aji Alese joined Sunderland from West Ham last summer and was exceptional in his first campaign, but his season was ended early as he looked set for a couple of months on the sidelines after suffering his third injury since his arrival.
The 22-year-old missed the final 12 matches of the season, but was available for Sunderland’s play-off second-leg clash against Luton Town.
Despite making a 33-minute cameo at Kenilworth Road, it was later confirmed that Alese had suffered a setback and would undergo surgery.
It has now been seven months since Alese last featured for Sunderland, but he now finally looks like he is taking big strides towards his comeback.
The versatile defender finally pulled on his boots as he was named on the bench for Sunderland U21’s starting line-up on Monday, as they were narrowly beaten by Arsenal.
Alese was brought on at half-time and left Eppleton Colliery unscathed, with the likes of Timothee Pembele, Jenson Seelt and Nazariy Rusyn all featuring too.
The West Ham academy graduate has now addressed supporters after making his first appearance in his recovery, writing on his social media: “Massive step in the right direction after 7 months out. 45 mins in the tank!”
It seems unlikely that the 22-year-old will be ready to make the match-day squad for Michael Beale‘s first game in charge, though we could see him back in the picture after Christmas.
Can Aji Alese impress Michael Beale?
While Sunderland fans absolutely loved Aji Alese in his first season on Wearside, he certainly isn’t guaranteed to slot straight back in following Beale’s arrival. Though the 43-year-old was in attendance on Monday evening and hopefully will have been impressed by his second half showing.
Beale does have quite limited options in his defence though, so hopefully he takes a further look at Alese. The defender mostly featured at left-back for the Black Cats, though the current form of Niall Huggins could maybe see him pushed back into a central position.
Alese is definitely one of our most talented defenders and it would be a real shame to see him wasted on the bench, so hopefully he can get back to his best and give us plenty more squad depth in our backline.
Though Jenson Seelt is also doing a very good job at pushing for a place too after a solid performance against Leeds United. It’s nice to finally have some competition for Luke O’Nien and Dan Ballard anyway.