Sunderland have informed former Chelsea defender Papy Djilobodji that they intend to terminate his contract after he returned to training a month late and then failed routine fitness tests.
Djilobodji, who signed for £8 million from Chelsea in the summer of 2016, was given a month’s unpaid leave in July in order to try and find a new team, but when he was unable to do so he still refused to return to the club.
Despite several written instructions for him to resume training, the 29-year-old ignored the requests and when he did finally did appear at the Academy of Light, on Sept 5, Sunderland claimed he was in no shape to play or train with the first team.
Sunderland believe this gives them grounds to dismiss a player who earns around £30,000-a-week, despite the club’s relegation to League One, although the player is likely to appeal given the financial ramifications of losing his job.
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