Sunderland forward left out of squad as punishment for past behavioural issues

Normally one of Tunisia’s key players, the absence of Wahbi Khazri is the latest national team squad caused a bit of a stir.

Not exactly a regular at Sunderland, the lack of game time could have been a factor, although that didn’t stop him getting called up for the Africa Cup of Nations in January, yet that wasn’t the reason why Henryk Kasperczak omitted him.

As relayed by Star Africa, both the Black Cats winger and Ferjani Sassi weren’t called up for the upcoming friendlies against Cameroon and Morocco due to their previous behaviour when on international duty.

The Sunderland forward allegedly refused to shake his manager’s hand when subbed off during the Africa Cup of Nations, and the president of the Tunisian Football Federation, Wadii Jarii, told his manager to leave him out as punishment.

Despite Sunderland spending over £10m on the player from Bordeaux towards the end of January 2016, Khazri has never been a regular at the Stadium of Light, making only 31 appearances in all competitions.

David Moyes has only counted on him 17 times this season, with the player only managing one assist in 653 minutes of football.