Kristjaan Speakman explains why Sunderland have sold Isaac Lihadji as winger completes transfer to Qatar

Isaac Lihadji has left Sunderland to join Qatar-based side Al-Duhail SC for an undisclosed fee.

Lihadji, 22, only made six senior appearances for the Black Cats after moving to Wearside on a two-and-a-half-year contract in January from French club Lille.

Sunderland’s sporting director Kristjaan Speakman told the club’s website: “We thoroughly enjoyed having Isaac at Sunderland, but we must be pragmatic in these scenarios and assess the opportunity in any transfer proposals that we receive.

“After considering all the factors, we believe this represents an incredibly positive deal for the club and it’s a transfer that will also create immediate opportunities for us in the market. Isaac is a great kid, and we wish him well in his new adventure.”

Lihadji was left out of Sunderland’s side for their pre-season friendly against Hartlepool on Tuesday.

When asked about the winger’s imminent departure, Mowbray said: “We have (Patrick) Roberts and (Jack) Clarke who in my mind are stick on in them positions.

“You have Jewison, who has scored a few goals over pre-season but is still a very, very young boy.

“Attacking players is what we need. (Bradley) Dack has been brought in, we still have (Alex) Pritchard, (Abdoullah) Ba. We think Ba looks better cutting in off the right hand side having a check and twist. We could think about putting Clarke down the middle and Ba off the left sometimes.

“Let’s just keep rolling with them and keep trying to make them better. They’ll be better for the experience of last season, they are young players and they had a great experience last season and hopefully they’ll be stronger and better.”