Sunderland's Romaine Mundle reveals surgery has been a success
The image was accompanied by a post which read: 'Devastated to be here writing this message and words can't fully describe the emotions attached to this setback.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DMTKP3LqF9L/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading
'Sometimes it's hard to find the positives in situations like these, but without a doubt I'll be back better physically.
'Surgery was a success and the road to recovery begins now. Although it has been a difficult period for me over the last few days, this is only a minor setback and I will be back better than before.'
It remains to be seen how long Mundle, who has been linked with a summer move away from Wearside in recent days with Ligue 1 Monaco and Eredivisie PSV Eindhoven linked with moves for the pacy midfielder, will be out of action.
However, his misfortune will come as blow to head coach Regis Le Bris, whose side was in friendly action against Spanish outfit Sevilla on Saturday evening at the Estadio Algarve in Faro just four weeks before they renew acquaintances with the English top flight when West Ham visit the Stadium of Light.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Metro
8 minutes ago
- Metro
The seven players Chelsea are trying to sell this summer after £50m double exit
Chelsea are reportedly trying to sell seven more players this summer after securing £50.2m for offloading Joao Felix and Ishe Samuels-Smith. The Blues recently sold Felix to Saudi Pro League side Al-Nassr for £43.7m and young defender Samuels-Smith to sister club Strasbourg for £6.5m. They are the latest duo to depart Stamford Bridge, following Djordje Petrovic, Kepa Arrizabalaga and Noni Madueke through the exit door. Chelsea are not done there, though, with the club sticking seven more players up for sale ahead of the new season, The Standard report. Wake up to find news on your club in your inbox every morning with Metro's Football Newsletter. Sign up to our newsletter and then select your team in the link we'll send you so we can get football news tailored to you. Chelsea are keen to offload Raheem Sterling in the summer transfer window. It's thought that the Blues are happy to accept £20m for the 30-year-old Englishman, who has attracted interest from the likes of Fulham, Bayer Leverkusen, Juventus and Serie A champions Napoli. The Blues are also keen to secure an exit for Ben Chilwell before the new season gets started. Chilwell still has two years remaining on his £200,000-a-week deal but Chelsea are struggling to find a buyer for the 28-year-old English left-back. Recent reports have indicated that Chelsea could terminate the defender's contract if they cannot find a buyer for him. The third player Chelsea are looking to sell is 22-year-old Portugal international Renato Veiga. Veiga was expected to join Atletico Madrid – but the deal has stalled after the La Liga side prioritised the signing of David Hancko. Chelsea defender Axel Disasi, 27, has been put up for sale too following his loan spell at Aston Villa last term. Raheem Sterling Ben Chilwell Renato Veiga Axel Disasi Carney Chukwuemeka Lesley Ugochukwu Armando Broja Disasi had reportedly attracted interest from Villarreal but they were not prepared to meet Chelsea's asking price, in the region of €25-30m. More Trending Carney Chukwuemeka, linked to Borussia Dortmund, with Juventus also expressing an interest, is the fifth player Chelsea are keen to offload. Lesley Ugochukwu and Armando Broja, meanwhile, are the sixth and seventh players Chelsea want to get off the books as soon as possible. Valencia and Hamburg want to sign Ugochukwu on loan but Chelsea wouldprefer to permanently sell the 21-year-old midfielder. Meanwhile, Chelsea are thought to be demanding a fee of £25m to sell 23-year-old Albania international striker Broja. MORE: Arne Slot praises Liverpool youngster after Yokohama FM win – but reveals where he must 'learn' MORE: It's all go for Rodrygo after Real Madrid lower their transfer demands with Liverpool prime suspects in race to sign Brazilian attacker MORE: Roberto Di Matteo tips £80m Chelsea star to complete Man Utd transfer
The Guardian
9 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Sunderland, Granit Xhaka and identifying Sisyphean futility
Correctly installed as lava-hot favourites to be relegated back to the Championship, seconds after the final whistle was blown at the end of their last-gasp playoff final win over Sheffield United, Sunderland promptly lost their standout player, Jobe Bellingham, to a far more successful club who might conceivably win a trophy more prestigious than Fizzy Cup in the next 70 years. Instead of raging about cosy cartels, the unfairness of PSR and the fact their billionaire owner isn't allowed to spend money on players that the football club he owns hasn't earned, mackems have since looked on with increasing intrigue as their club's hierarchy have unveiled a series of new signings that, while unlikely to prompt talk of a serious title tilt, may at least ensure that Sunderland do not feature in any conversational comparisons with Derby County and their record low Premier League points tally of 11 in the coming months. It's a near-certainty that Enzo Le Fée, Habib Diarra, Simon Adingra, Chemsdine Talbi, Noah Sadiki and Reinildo Mandava won't all go on to achieve Hall of Fame status on Wearside. But, in signing the six players, the club have shown they at least intend to make a decent fist of trying to stay up, while also putting the Sunderland 'Til I Die days of Jack Rodwell on £70,000-per-week in League One, paying £4m for Will Grigg in an ill-advised deadline-day panic buy and that Oxbridge fop in the red trousers sound checking Ibiza anthems over the Stadium of Light PA long behind them. Of course, this being Sunderland, the possibility of sky-high farce and a snake belly low league position can never be discounted and despite these signings, the club's head coach, Régis Le Bris, looked at risk of embarking on his first ever Premier League campaign with a callow and whey-faced squad boasting little or no top-flight experience. A grizzled old hand was required. Ideally a handsome, tough-tackling midfield veteran with more than a century of caps. A man whose leadership skills were held in such high regard by his peers that he famously topped the players' poll for the position of Arsenal captain in 2019 without recourse to a recount. A man so impervious to the slings and brickbats of his once-adoring public that he would go on to … er, lose that captaincy after throwing a strop in the face of fan derision for being substituted against Crystal Palace. A man who realised the Sisyphean futility of trying to win a title at the Emirates and went to Germany to win one instead. And a man who realised he was unlikely to win another one because Leverkusen are now managed by Erik ten Hag. What Sunderland needed was the man, the warrior, the myth and the occasionally contrary red and yellow card-magnet that is Granit Xhaka. And hell's bells, if they haven't gone and got him, in the process landing the kind of transfer coup which suggests that if they are to eventually go down next season, they will at least do so swinging haymakers of both the metaphorical and literal variety. 'I'm very proud to be here,' roared the man who finished 16th on last year's Ballon d'Or list and has signed a three-year deal for a fee of around £20m. 'When I spoke to the club, I was excited and I felt the energy and the mentality that all the people and players have. It's exactly what I wanted and I have a very good feeling.' Having made it clear before his move that he was hell-bent on moving to Sunderland, Xhaka's arrival has prompted several questions, the most pertinent of which seems to be why exactly he was so hell-bent on going to Sunderland. 'We are back to where this club needs to be, and we want to stay here to write our own history,' yodelled the Swiss legend to his adoring public from the central tower of Durham Cathedral. 'I feel that I'm ready to help the team with my experience but with quality as well.' And while history is famously written by the winners, there isn't a mackem alive who won't be delighted if next season it's chronicled by the team finishing 17th. 'We have done this immediately, following an assessment by engineering specialists who can no longer confirm that the North Stand is safe for spectator use' – after yesterday's Football Daily, Sheffield city councillor Joe Otten reveals the outlook is even more grim for Wednesday fans after they were been banned from opening Hillsborough's North Stand to spectators due to safety concerns, with the new season little more than a week away. Perhaps the reason for Sheffield Wednesday's 10-man, 16-0 defeat to Halliwell FC in 1887 (yesterday's Football Daily) was that not all members of the 1896 FA Cup-winning squad were trusting of the Victorian time machine technology that the club were clearly using at that time?' – Garreth Cummins (and others). Although the number is the same as Football Daily's pedants, my only knowledge of 'Bonnie Blue' is that I thought it was an affectionate name for Cowdenbeath's home kit. And that's the story I'm sticking with' – Simon Mazier (and 1,056 others). Re: Forest's ownership. Guy Stephenson is partially correct (yesterday's Football Daily letters); it is the same Evangelos Marinakis who put his shares into a blind trust earlier in the year, but it's also the Evangelos Marinakis that reversed the situation in June when it became apparent it wasn't required' – Jim Hearson. If you have any, please send letters to Today's winner of our prizeless letter o' the day is … Rollover. Terms and conditions for our competitions, when we run them, are here. On Thursday 11 September, join Max Rushden, Barry Glendenning and a host of your other Football Weekly favourites live on stage for an evening of unfiltered football punditry at Troxy in London and livestreamed globally. Book now. Domestic English football returned on Tuesday night when Barnet took on Newport in the new preliminary round of the Littlewoods Cup. Barnet, back in the EFL for the first time since 2018, arrived with all the swagger of newly-crowned National League champions. Dean Brennan's 'Brennanball' – a philosophy built on possession and high pressing – had swept all before it. Alas, as so often happens when the Football League proper beckons, reality delivered a swift, sharp kick to the shins. Dave Hughes, Newport's new gaffer, bagged his first competitive win in charge, but not before Barnet gave him a fright. Cameron Antwi and Michael Reindorf put Newport two goals to the good in the first half, seemingly cruising towards a comfortable victory. But the Bees, even on an off-day, weren't about to roll over. Deep into stoppage time, Ryan Galvin pulled one back, and then, with seconds left on the clock, Rhys Brown popped up to equalise, making it 2-2 and forcing penalties. The comeback heroics were ultimately in vain: Newport keeper Nik Tzanev saved Kane Smith's spot-kick, and Cameron Evans calmly converted to seal a 4-2 shootout win. The reward? A home tie against Championship side Millwall in the first round. Arsenal have been told they'll need to shell out more than half of Eberechi Eze's release clause up front to sign the England man, with Crystal Palace determined not to allow him to leave for less than a fee that could reach up to £67.5m. Luis Díaz has completed a £65.5m move from Liverpool to Bayern Munich, inking a four-year contract with the Bavarian behemoths. He becomes Bayern's third most expensive transfer and also the Reds' third highest sale of all time. After Newcastle spent the best part of 12 months tracking Burnley keeper James Trafford, Manchester City have gone and activated their matching rights clause to sign him for £27m. 'Rejoining City is such a special and proud moment both for me and my family,' he cheered. 'I always dreamed that one day I would be able to come back to Manchester City. This is the place I call home.' Leah Williamson has promised that there is more to come from her all-conquering Lionesses, declaring 'this story is not done yet' as she addressed the 65,000 fans packed on to the Mall on Tuesday. Former Canada coach Bev Priestman says she didn't feel safe living there following her one-year ban for spying at last year's Big Sports Day in Paris. After being unveiled by Wellington Phoenix Women, she said: 'Obviously it was an absolute media frenzy. You've got people knocking at your door and everything, and I've got a little boy. Without going into too much detail, it was very difficult. We knew we had to get out of that country.' In a shock of all shocks, apparently the atmosphere at Manchester United hasn't been great these past few years. That is according to Luke Shaw, who told reporters on the club's pre-season tour that the environment 'can be quite toxic, it's not healthy at all'. He added: 'A lot of the time … it's been extremely negative.' Let's hope neither Ollie Watkins nor Benjamin Sesko get wind of Shaw's comments, as United are chasing both in their quest for a reliable goalscorer. Las Vegas will host the 2026 World Cup draw on 5 December, according to widespread reports, but it won't be in the famous Sphere venue. And – breaking! – Kylian Mbappé will switch to the Real Madrid No 10 shirt from No 9, following Luka Modric's exit. Is (Dame) Chloe Kelly the first player to score decisive goals at two major tournament finals? The Knowledge knows. Meanwhile, Suzanne Wrack waxes lyrical about the Lionesses' stoic captain, the magnificent Leah Williamson. Suzanne is also part of our team of writers tasked with handing out their Euro 2025 awards. Spoiler: there is plenty of disagreement. The first of our EFL previews has landed! Who will win League Two and who is destined for the drop? From Chesterfield to Cheltenham, we've got you covered. San Diego FC are catching the eye with a squad of '30 strangers' that relies on teenagers in key positions. John Muller has the skinny on the MLS new boys. Gabriel Martinelli, Gabriel Jesus, Jakub Kiwior and Oleksandr Zinchenko all to leave Arsenal? The Mill sifts through today's transfer tittle-tattle. And why are more and more British clubs turning to the Asian market to find players? John Duerden investigates. To April 1998 and a trendy nightspot in Granada, Spain, where players from lower-league Alfacar get their kit off – 'in front of an enthusiastic crowd' declares the archive – as part of a fundraising effort for the cash-strapped club.
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
‘I felt the energy': Granit Xhaka joins Sunderland on three-year contract
Sunderland have completed the signing of the Swiss midfielder Granit Xhaka from Bayer Leverkusen on a three-year contract. The fee has not been disclosed but is thought to be an initial £13m, with a further £4m in potential add-ons. The 32-year-old arrives on Wearside having spent two years with Leverkusen, where he was part of their impressive 2023-24 season, crowned Bundesliga champions, lifting the DFB-Pokal and reaching the Europa League final. Xhaka made 49 appearances in all competitions for Leverkusen last season, including 10 in the Champions League, having joined from Arsenal in July 2023. Xhaka has also been the Switzerland captain since 2020, and is their record appearance holder with 137 caps. He began his career at Basel before joining Borussia Mönchengladbach before moving to Arsenal in 2016. Xhaka spent seven years in north London, making 225 Premier League appearances and winning the FA Cup twice. He was stripped of the club captaincy by Unai Emery in 2019 after an angry confrontation with fans, but then enjoyed a resurgence in form under Mikel Arteta's management. 'I'm very proud to be here,' Xhaka told the Sunderland website. 'When I spoke to the club, I was excited and I felt the energy, and the mentality that all the people and players have. It's exactly what I wanted, and I have a very good feeling.' 'We are back to where this club needs to be, and we want to stay here to write our own history,' he added. 'I feel that I'm ready to help the team with my experience but with quality as well. We need to find ourselves on the pitch, but I don't think this will be a big problem. It's been a long time to wait, but I'm here now and I'm looking forward to it.' The club's sporting director, Kristjaan Speakman, said: 'We're delighted to welcome Granit and his family to Sunderland. His arrival is a significant endorsement of our ambition and our desire to build a team our supporters can be proud of in the Premier League. 'His accomplishments and quality need little introduction. He's a player of the highest calibre on and off the field, who we feel is the perfect match to the profile required in our team. We are excited to see the impact he can make on the field and within our dressing room.' Xhaka's arrival is the latest signing in a busy transfer window for the Premier League newcomers. Former loanee Enzo Le Fée has joined permanently while fellow midfielders Habib Diarra and Noah Sadiki have been brought in. Wingers Simon Adingra and Chemsdine Talbi have also joined the club, along with the Atlético Madrid full-back Reinildo Mandava. The Black Cats have also reached an agreement to sign goalkeeper Robin Roefs. The 22-year-old made 33 Eredivisie appearances for NEC Nijmegen last season.
