Kristjaan Speakman confirms Sunderland's Timothee Pembele plan after loan exit confirmed

Sunderland have confirmed Timothee Pembele’s loan move to Ligue 1 side Le Havre.

Pembele’s departure is the second confirmed deal of transfer deadline day, after Pierre Ekwah made the switch to St Etienne. Unlike Ekwah’s move, however, there is no option for Le Havre to make the deal permanent next summer at this stage and sporting director Kristjaan Speakman has made it clear that he expects the full back to return and compete for a place next summer.

Pembele has struggled to break into the first team since signing from PSG last summer and has not been part of Regis Le Bris’ plans since the head coach arrived at the club.

“Timothée’s availability last season represented an opportunity for us to acquire a player with vast potential,” Speakman said.

“We moved quickly to secure his signature but understood that he needed time to recover from an injury that was preceded by another lengthy spell out of action. Although he hasn’t yet managed to force his way into the team, he is now fully fit and has trained consistently. The next step is for him to play regularly in a competitive senior environment, and we believe this move will allow him to do that before returning to Sunderland next summer.”

Sunderland are still active on a number of fronts heading into the closing stages of deadline day, with a number of deals still to be completed.