Salis Abdul Samed signed for Sunderland on loan last summer

Former Sunderland loanee Salis Abdul Samed has shed light on the injury issues that prevented him from making a greater impact at the Stadium of Light last season.

The Ghanaian international arrived on Wearside to notable acclaim last summer, but never truly reached his full potential in red and white, and was limited to just 11 appearances across all competitions, with eight of those coming from the bench.

He returned to parent club RC Lens at the end of the campaign, and since then, has completed a permanent move to OGC Nice, where he has reunited with ex-Lens boss Franck Haise.

What has Salis Abdul Samed said about his loan stint with Sunderland?

And in a fresh interview with Get French Football News, Samed has opened up on the unorthodox process of his signing for Sunderland, and the fitness setbacks that ultimately held him back during his time in England.

He said: “I got injured even before going to Sunderland. I had a problem with the psoas. I spoke with the doctor and he said that it would be three or four weeks, so I called Regis [Le Bris] and said, ‘I’m injured, so I don’t think I can sign’. But he said, ‘No, we’ll have a look’. So Sunderland’s doctor came to Paris, we did tests, and he said the same thing, that it would be two or three weeks. I arrived at Sunderland and in the first or second week, I started training, and in the second session, I suffered an injury in the same place.”

He continued: “Then it took five or six months [to come back]. I came back, I started playing a bit again, and then I injured my calf, too, so then the season was basically over. I was playing, but I was trying to avoid injuries and everything, so there were lots of things going on in my head.”

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Samed also provided an update on where he feels he is at presently, having playing 327 minutes of first team football for Nice already this season. He added: “I am progressing little by little. I have been speaking with my Dad [Haise]. He has told me to cut loose and play like before.

“As I didn’t play a lot last year, I was injured almost the whole season. It is only the start, and as it is only the start, I said that I would play simply in order to get my confidence back. That was a personal choice, but Haise said, ‘Cut loose, do what you do’, and so this week I have been doing that in training, and it’s been going well, so I am very happy. This week was my best since coming, even physically, I have given a lot.”

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