AIK forward Benjamin Mbunga Kimpioka has detailed his time at Sunderland and the miserable experience he suffered at the Stadium of Light.
Kimpioka joined Sunderland from IK Sirius’ U17 side in July 2017 and spent two years with the Black Cats’ Under 18 side before being moved to the senior squad in 2018.
He spent the next two seasons on various loan deals, first going out to Torquay in March 2021 before a one month spell at Southend United between September and October 2021.
He then departed Sunderland in March this year, heading back to his homeland with AIK in an effort to get his career back on track.
That brought an end to a miserable five years with Sunderland, for whom he made over 100 appearances for across their Under 18s, 23s and senior team.
He’s now detailed what went on behind the scenes for him at the club and how it left him utterly miserable.
“When Sunderland wanted to give me a three-year contract, it felt very right for me,” he told Expressen.
“I am a person who believes in energies very much, and my energy was very positive towards Sunderland; I always go for that gut feeling. I felt I wanted to take advantage of that challenge. I love challenges.
“The culture in England is very different compared to Sweden. In Sweden, they take care of you from when you are young; the coaches do it and especially the teammates.
“But in England, they drove over me directly. Nobody talked to me. I did not get my first salary, so the month leading up to that salary, I had no clothes, and I was stuck in the room. No one invited me.
“I have never been so bullied and exposed in my life; I had never experienced anything like this. Usually, you might call home and talk to your family, but I did not want to call home and say that it went badly.
“I just want to give good news, so it was a month that I did not answer when my mother called, I just wrote back “everything is fine, I can not talk”. I would cry in my room.”
