Sunderland snapped up Ian Poveda on a free transfer during the summer transfer window, beating a number of clubs to the signing.
Sunderland fans were excited by the prospect of former Barcelona and Manchester City youth prospect Ian Poveda joining in the summer.
The Colombian had just been released by Leeds United but impressed in a loan spell with Sheffield Wednesday during the second half of last season.
A handful of Championship and European sides wanted to sign Poveda. But it was Sunderland who won the race for the 24-year-old.
However, Poveda has once again been struggling with injury. Poveda sustained an injury for Sunderland in their win over Derby County at the start of October and hasn’t featured since.
In the last four seasons, including this current campaign, Poveda has managed just 54 league appearances, having had loan spells with numerous clubs.
Ian Poveda’s Sunderland wage and how much he’s earned per appearance
Poveda has made three substitute appearances in the Championship this season and didn’t play in the Black Cats’ Carabao Cup clash against Preston North End.
Per Capology, Poveda earns £9,000-a-week at Sunderland. He signed for the club towards the end of July and has so far made 16 week’s worth of wages, meaning that Poveda has made £144,000 since joining, and £48,000 per appearance for the Black Cats.
More staggering is Poveda’s earnings-per-minute with the Black Cats this season, which currently stands at £3,273 for every minute of Championship football played this season.
Poveda signed a three-year deal with Sunderland who also have the option to extend that deal by an extra year.
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When will Ian Poveda return from injury at Sunderland?
Regis Le Bris confirmed Poveda’s muscle injury back in October, suggesting at the time that the injury could be quite a lengthy one.
Speaking before the Coventry City game last weekend, Le Bris revealed he hopes Poveda will be available for Sunderland in January.
Le Bris explained: “We should have two or three players that haven’t played so far available by January.
“I would like to have Ahmed [Abdullahi], Salis [Abdul Samed] and Ian in the team because, so far, we haven’t really been able to see what they can do.”
Also sidelined for the Black Cats right now are Jenson Seelt, Niall Huggins, and Aji Alese, with Alan Browne and Romaine Mundle picking up knocks against Coventry.