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Sunderland will forever regret their £8m deal with Chelsea – it was money wasted.
Sunderland will forever regret their £8million deal to sign Papy Djilobodji from Chelsea, as it turned out to be a complete waste of money.
The centre-back joined ahead of the 2016/17 season, but only made 18 league appearances as the Black Cats finished at the bottom of the Premier League and were relegated.
The following season, Djilobodji was loaned out, and Sunderland faced back-to-back relegations, dropping to the third tier for just the second time in the club’s history.
After their disastrous top-flight campaign, Djilobodji never played another league match for Sunderland, and his contract was terminated just two years into his tenure at the club.
The Senegalese defender returned late for pre-season in September, failed a fitness test, and Sunderland were unable to recover any of their investment. His signing will likely go down as one of the worst in the club’s history.
Djilobodji’s Costly Failure at Sunderland
Djilobodji arrived at Sunderland in August 2016 as new manager David Moyes’ first signing. The club had narrowly avoided relegation the season before under Sam Allardyce, but their luck ran out the following year.
The Black Cats won only five league games that season, ending their 10-year stay in the Premier League. Moyes resigned after the relegation, and it marked the beginning of a steady decline for the club in the following years.
Djilobodji had signed a four-year deal but only made 18 league appearances in his first season—his entire league involvement during his time at Sunderland. With a reported weekly wage of £32,000, he spent the next season on loan at Ligue 1 side Dijon.
Pushing for a permanent move, Sunderland gave Djilobodji the month of July off without pay, with the understanding that he would either find a new club or return ready for the new season. However, Djilobodji didn’t report back until early September and failed a fitness test, which led to Sunderland terminating his contract.
At the time, Sunderland’s chairman, Stewart Donald, even threatened legal action against Djilobodji and Didier Ndong for “deliberately devaluing themselves.” It ended up being one of the most costly and ill-fated transfers in Sunderland’s history.
Djilobodji’s Decline After Chelsea Move
After a promising spell at Nantes in France, Djilobodji joined Chelsea in 2015. However, he failed to make a single league appearance for the Blues, spending half of his first season on loan at Werder Bremen. He was then sold to Sunderland at the end of the campaign.
Following his disastrous spell at Sunderland, Djilobodji returned to France with Guingamp, but his career continued to decline. He made just four league appearances before moving to Turkey, where he spent five years with Gaziantep in the Super Lig. He is now playing in Turkey’s second division for Fatih Karagumruk.
While Sunderland’s experience with Djilobodji was a failure, it’s worth noting that he struggled at other clubs too.
His move to England should have been a stepping stone to a successful career, but instead, it marked the beginning of his fall from the top level.
Looking back, Sunderland will no doubt question their decision to pay £8million for a player who never wanted to be there, and the deal remains one of the club’s most expensive and regrettable mistakes.
