Sunderland’s reported interest Jesurun Rak-Sakyi may have been brought to a premature ending.
That’s according to Evening Standard, who have reported that the Crystal Palace winger is expected to be sidelined for at least a month.
Jesurun Rak-Sakyi joined Crystal Palace from Chelsea’s academy back in 2019 before making his Premier League debut against the Blues two years later.
The ‘exciting’ youngster was loaned out to Charlton Athletic last season and made a huge impact on the League One club as he was named their Player of the Year, netting 15 goals and providing nine assists.
Rak-Sakyi returned to Selhurst Park in the summer and came under increasing interest from a number of clubs, with Sunderland joining the likes of Hull and Leicester City in their pursuit.
However, a long-term injury to Michael Olise left Roy Hodgson short on options up top and so he decided to keep hold of Rak-Sakyi.
It was believed that there was still plenty of interest in the 21-year-old heading into the January transfer window, however his recent injury may have changed that.
After making six substitute appearances for the Eagles this season, Rak-Sakyi was left out of the squad all together in their win over Burnley.
Hodgson confirmed that the winger had picked up a hamstring problem at the weekend, saying: “It is bad. We don’t know 100 per cent. We’re not talking a week or two — we’re probably talking longer than that. It’s a real blow.”
The report claims that Rak-Sakyi has since undergone scans which have suggested he could be out of action until at least the Christmas period.
Could Sunderland still sign Rak-Sakyi?
While he could be back available during the January transfer window, there is no promise that he will recover before then and he may need even longer to recover.
While Sunderland could still look to sign the England U20 international for when he returns to full fitness, they may prefer to look to an attacker that is ready to make an impact straight away.
Jesurun Rak-Sakyi would be a very solid signing for the Black Cats, but Tony Mowbray will definitely want to look elsewhere in the mean time, in case he is out for longer than a month.