Leicester City player sends one-word message to Sunderland loanee Abdoullah Ba after first goal for new club

Sunderland loanee Abdoullah Ba produced a decisive cameo for new club USL Dunkerque on Monday evening, scoring one goal and assisting another in a 3-1 victory.

The attacker has struggled for minutes since making the move to France in January, and had previously registered just one appearance following his switch from the Stadium of Light. Ba found himself back in the match day squad for a clash with fellow promotion hopefuls EA Guingamp last night, however, and was introduced to the action with 26 minutes left on the clock and his side protecting a narrow 1-0 lead.

How did Sunderland loanee Abdoullah Ba perform against Guingamp?

Ba subsequently wasted little time in making his mark on proceedings, finding the back of the net in the 82nd minute with an impressive solo run and emphatic finish, before laying on an assist for Marco Rachid Essimi Ateba deep into stoppage time. Those goal contributions were his first in senior football since he recording a goal and two assist in a 3-1 win for Sunderland over Stoke City in January of last year.

In response to his impressive turn, Ba received messages of congratulations from a number of fellow professionals on Instagram, including Leicester City defender Woyo Coulibaly, who simply wrote, “Peace”, and Sheffield Wednesday winger Djeidi Gassama, and ex-Tottenham Hotspur star Georges-Kevin N'Koudou, who both left several emojis with heart-shaped eyes.

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What has been said about Abdoullah Ba’s loan spell with USL Dunkerque?

Speaking about his initial desire to sign Ba, Dunkerque chief - and former Newcastle United striker - Demba Ba said earlier this year: “He’s a player that I’ve been following for a long time. He was playing for Le Havre before and I grew [up] there so I’ve always followed that club a little bit and his name is Ba. When I saw him at 17 or 18 I really liked the profile of the player that he was.

“He did well for Le Havre, went to England and then I saw he wasn’t playing too much this season. But I know the player, it’s just a little click that needs to happen in his mind for him to be able to perform because once again I know the quality of the player.

“When you see his attributes, it’s unbelievable. The agility he has with the ball, his mentality and even the speed and everything. If you train hard, with all these attributes you have a great career unless something’s not right I would say mentally, emotionally or something like this. I decided to bring him on board because he’s better than the level of French second division. We’re going to work on the mental aspect, the emotional aspect to get him back on track.”

He added: “We just want to put him back on track for him to find his rhythm back, his confidence and to start enjoying it a bit because after what happened to him in the last couple of months he got into a mood where he just wants to enjoy football. We’ll try and bring that back to him and then hopefully he can go back to Sunderland and either compete or be sold to move on with the rest of his career.”

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