Sunderland have a plethora of fringe players out on loan stints this season and one Black Cats loanee has grabbed headlines for his impressive substitute display.
Sunderland have a vast array of squad players spending time away from Wearside on loan this season, with varying degrees of success seen by onlooking sporting director Kristjaan Speakman.
Nectarios Triantis has been the standout Sunderland loanee this term, with the Australian international in impressive form for Hibernian with Triantis’ latest accolade coming in Hibs’ historic win over Rangers recently.
Pierre Ekwah on the other hand has endured a difficult spell in Ligue 1, with St Etienne staring down the barrel of relegation and recently suffering another defeat against Lens.
Forgotten full-back Timothee Pembele has impressed lately for Ligue 1 Le Havre as the Frenchman rejuvenates his career.
Another Frenchman enjoying his football out on loan in his home country is midfielder Abdoullah Ba, and the 21-year-old played a pivotal role in loan outfit Dunkerque’s crucial victory on Monday evening as they continue their Ligue 2 play-off push.
Sunderland loanee Abdoullah Ba stars in cameo
Sunderland loanee Ba was introduced for 4th-placed Dunkerque during their Ligue 2 clash against Guingamp as they fight to remain in their automatic promotion battle.
In their latest win, Ba was instrumental to their 3-1, despite only featuring as a second-half substitute. The Black Cats fringe figure scored to double his side’s lead and then assisted their final goal in injury time to secure the three points.
| Key statistic | Abdoullah Ba vs Guingamp |
| Minutes played | 26′ |
| Goals | 1 |
| Assists | 1 |
| Accurate passes | 5/5 |
| Big chances created | 1 |
As per SofaScore, Ba had 100% passing accuracy, creating one big chance and playing two key passes during his 26-minute substitute appearance. His goal – the first of his loan stint – had Sunderland supporters heaping praise on the youngster after he drove with the ball from halfway and finished it with an emphatic strike into the far corner, on the 82nd-minute mark.
Dunkerque are still fighting for automatic promotion back to the French top flight and Ba’s display helped further cement their play-off aspirations with five clashes to go in Ligue 2, but is unlikely to be enough to warrant a long-term future at Sunderland under Regis Le Bris.
Abdoullah Ba’s Sunderland future is in doubt
Minority owner of Dunkerque, ex-Newcastle striker Demba Ba, has hailed his namesake this term and has liked Ba as a prospect for some time now.
Ba told iNews: “He’s a player that I’ve been following for a long time… When I saw him at 17 or 18 I really liked the profile of the player that he was. He did well for Le Havre, went to England and then I saw he wasn’t playing too much this season. But I know the player, it’s just a little click that needs to happen in his mind for him to be able to perform because once again I know the quality of the player.”
However, he admitted that there’s ‘virtually no chance’ of sealing a permanent deal for the Sunderland man at the end of the season, with the Black Cats still paying a huge chunk of his wages.
Ba has been a polarising figure at Sunderland. In some games, Ba has been capable of producing in moments with the youngster outscoring fellow wideman Patrick Roberts last season.
More often though, he’s looked totally out of his depth in the second tier and regardless of how Sunderland’s season curtails, Ba is not in Le Bris’ long-term plans on Wearside with a permanent departure likely this summer.