Timothée Pembélé of Sunderland joined Le Havre AC on loan at the end of the summer transfer season. The defender joined the Stadium of Light from Paris Saint-Germain in September 2023, but struggled for regular playing time last season. Paris Normandie covers comments made by the Sunderland player, who says he wants to join a second-tier club in France to restore his level. The right-back has now admitted that he was overjoyed when the Ligue 1 club made an offer and was then keen to leave Sunderland.
“I never thought HAC would come hunting for me! I was in England’s second tier, not playing, and I decided to return to Ligue 2,” he explained. “I believe in myself; I know I have the capacity to play in Ligue 1, but in today’s game, if a player does not play, he is quickly forgotten.
“When my agent informed me that Le Havre was interested in me, I answered right away, ‘Let’s go! I didn’t glance to see where I was in the pecking order; instead, I told myself, “I’m going, I’m fighting, and we’ll see what happens.” The Frenchman’s limited minutes at the Championship side last season made it more difficult for him to adjust in Le Havre. Their manager, Didier Digard, first forced him to train with the reserves, which has undoubtedly aided the Sunderland-owned player. Pembélé has already played 586 minutes for Le Havre in seven games and is expected to play regularly this season. “In the end, it took some time.
I signed in the final days of the window, and the coach greeted me warmly, telling me that I needed to regain my rhythm,” Pembélé recounted. “So I had one match with the reserves. In England, I played a lot of games with the reserves, and I was tired of playing with younger players. But the coach told me that I needed to play 90 minutes to get into a rhythm. “After that, it was one thing after another.” Pembélé’s contract with Sunderland runs until 2028, but he’ll have to make a decision on his future after his loan deal with Le Havre expires at the end of this season.
Leave a Reply