Sunderland are finally in contention for a return to the Premier League, after years in the footballing wilderness had seen the Black Cats slip all the way down to League One.
The wheels fell off in Wearside at a rapid speed, back-to-back relegations down to the third tier making the Stadium of Light outfit the butt of many people’s jokes at the time.
Yet, under Michael Beale this season, the Black Cats could well finally rise from the ashes and return to the top flight – Beale’s youthful side just a point shy of breaking into the coveted top six at the time of writing after losing out in the playoffs last campaign.
Sunderland’s approach to transfers – if they were to return to the Premier League for the first time since dropping out back in the 2016-17 season – would differ to how they went about their business last time in the division with this record buy flopping big time when making a much-talked-about move to England.
How much Sunderland signed Didier Ndong for
Didier Ndong signed for Sunderland before this disastrous relegation season could get underway, entering as Sunderland’s most expensive player of all time with a £13.6m fee above his head.
That was always going to weigh Ndong down playing for the Black Cats, an expectation that the former Lorient man would take the Premier League by storm just based on his price-tag alone.
The move wouldn’t go to plan whatsoever for the Gabonese central midfielder however, scoring only one goal wearing the Sunderland strip from 54 appearances.
Towards the back end of his uninspiring spell with the club, Ndong would sour his relationship further with the Sunderland faithful by refusing to play when the team were relegated down to the third tier.
The now 29-year-old midfielder would see his contract eventually terminated as a result, ending an ill-fated association with the Black Cats that felt doomed from the beginning.
Ndong would opt to return back to France after this severing of ties was confirmed, with the 29-year-old becoming somewhat of a nomad since leaving Wearside behind.
What Ndong did after leaving Sunderland
The divisive ex-Sunderland man has been mixing it with Jordan Henderson out in Saudi Arabia of late, having played for the likes of Guingamp and Dijon in Ligue 1 directly after leaving the Stadium of Light.
Featuring for Al-Riyadh this season, Ndong has impressed in flashes by making 18 appearances in total for the Saudi Pro League side, even featuring in a game where he beat the aforementioned Henderson’s Al-Ettifaq 1-0.
His display in a back-and-forth encounter with Al-Shabab last year sticks out, helping himself to an assist in the entertaining 2-2 draw whilst also losing possession seven times from a holding role.
The former Sunderland flop will just look to keep plugging away in his new surroundings currently, with his time playing in both the Premier League and Championship for the Black Cats firmly at the back of his mind now.
Supporters at the Stadium of Light will most likely have forgotten about Ndong’s existence too, erasing those troubled times completely in pursuit of glory in the present with Beale’s young and hungry outfit eyeing up a playoff push.
