Sunderland boss outlines Jocelin Ta Bi plan and issues fitness update after January arrival
Sunderland’s head coach has given an update on January signing Jocelin Ta Bi
Régis Le Bris says he is hopeful that January signing Jocelin Ta Bi will be in full training within a fortnight.
Sunderland moved quickly to sign the 20-year-old when a move to Celtic from Maccabi Netanyi stalled, paying a fee believed to be in the region of £3.5 million to sign to the Ivory Coast winger. Ta Bi has been recovering from an ankle injury but Sunderland are confident that he does not have a major issue.
Ta Bi was pictured doing individual work on the Academy of Light pitches this week and Le Bris feels a period of time to settle and adapt is no bad thing anyway. How quickly Ta Bi can show he is ready for Premier League football remains to be seen but Le Bris said he didn’t want to rule out him making an impact this season.
Le Bris explained: “Yeah, we'll need approximately, I would say, two or three weeks to be game fit, so we'll take time to rebuild his fitness level as well, so it's a good opportunity for us to help him connect with the squad, with the club, and everyone in the building.
“I think his connection is really good, at the minute, his English is not perfect, but he's connected with the players, and some of them are really positive with him - Simon and Noah for example, so I'm looking forward to seeing him on the pitch. He should be training with us in around ten days. I don't want to set a limit, if he's able to be a starter, we'll be happy, it's a bit difficult because his background is the background of a young player, especially coming from abroad, he has a specific profile, which might fit our demand, our request in this position, so we'll see. Hopefully, I can be surprised [by how quickly he is ready].”
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Régis Le Bris confirms double Sunderland availability for West Ham United clash
Earlier in his press conference, Le Bris confirmed that he could welcome back both Habib Diarra and Chemsdine Talbi to the squad at West Ham United on Saturday following the conclusion of the Africa Cup of Nations.
“Yeah, they are back training,” Le Bris said.
“Habib only returned to training today, so the check-up is still ongoing. I hope that they could be available for the next fixture. I hope they will be able to play, but we'll see for the starting line-up.”
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