On summer deadline day, Timothée Pembélé left Sunderland for Le Havre AC on a loan deal.
The 22-year-old is enjoying life at the Ligue 1 side and his comments are relayed by Paris Normandie.
Sunderland took Pembélé from Paris Saint-Germain in the summer of 2023 and handed him a deal until 2028.
The defender missed the first half of last season due to a knee injury and had to wait until the end of December to make his first league appearance for the Black Cats. He was limited to less than 300 minutes from eight games for Sunderland last season.
Pembélé’s situation has clearly improved at Le Havre as he’s played close to 300 minutes from seven games so far. He didn’t hold back when explaining his difficult situation at Sunderland last season.
“It’s not that I’d lost it, but I was in a different mindset… I wasn’t playing, so there wasn’t the same pleasure in going to training,” he said.
“I was going to training for myself, because I needed to keep up a rhythm, because there was surely a project waiting for me…”
The Sunderland man insists he’s in a better place now, both physically and mentally, after his struggles at the Stadium of Light last season. He’s also pleased to have been well received at the French club.
“I feel better and better! Physically, psychologically… it helps when you play one match after another! We don’t have the following results for the moment, but it’s always a very good thing because it’s been a long time since I’ve had so many matches, maybe even for two years. So, I’m happy that the coach, the staff, the players too, trust me,” Pembélé explaned.
Sunderland’s Abdoullah Ba arrived at the Championship side from Le Havre, and he had positive things to say about his former club to Pembélé.
“Yes, I feel really good [at Le Havre]! It’s been a long time since I felt like this. I talk with everyone, I’m happy to come to the club, it’s been a long time since I felt that way,” he added.
“I already had this image of HAC as a family club, I already knew a lot of players, against whom I had played when I was young, and at Sunderland, I was with a player from La Cavée, Abdoullah Ba, who spoke very well about here. It was a club like this that I needed to rediscover the pleasure of playing football.”
