English Premiership Side Sunderland FC has sacked a defender Papy Ajilobodji who had transferred from Chelsea FC after he failed a comprehensive fitness test at the club.
The Senegalese has been redundant since 2015 as he barely played first team football at Chelsea since joining from Nantes. He was thereafter loaned out to Werder Bremen in 2016, before signing for Sunderland.
Sunderland was relegated from top flight English football and so Papy was loaned out once more to Dijon where spent all last season.
After his return to Sunderland, he was desperate to leave the club following their relegation to League One but was unable to find a club to sign him. His woes were further compounded after he returned to Sunderland a month later than expected and failed a fitness test.
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Sunderland FC management couldn’t take it anymore so they simply fired the Senegalese defender.
According to a statement issued by Sunderland FC announcing the departure of the defender;
“Djilobodji, who was under contract to SAFC until June 2020, indicated in June 2018 that he wished to leave the club. In order to facilitate that desire, the club entered into a written agreement with the player allowing him to spend the month of July on voluntary unpaid leave.
When that period came to an end, the player was expected either to leave for a new club – having reached a deal satisfactory to himself and SAFC – or to return in shape to play professional football.
Instead, he returned to Sunderland over a month later, in the first week of September, ignoring written requests for his return.
On his return, he was subjected to the same fitness test that his fellow professionals had undertaken on their return. He comprehensively failed that test.
As a result, Sunderland AFC can confirm that it has accepted Papy Djilobodji’s repudiatory breaches of contract and notice of the same has been provided to the player.”