Timothée Pembélé has told Paris Normandie that he wanted to leave Sunderland after a poor debut season at the Stadium of Light. The Championship side allowed him to join Le Havre on loan on deadline day of the summer window.
The Black Cats took the right-back from Paris Saint-Germain in September 2023 and he signed a five-year deal. Tony Mowbray was in charge when the 22-year-old arrived at the club.
Pembélé made his first team debut for Sunderland under Mowbray’s successor, Michael Beale, at the end of December. A knee injury forced him to spend more than 100 days on the sidelines.
The English club parted ways with Beale in February and appointed Mike Dodds until the end of last season. The Frenchman finished his debut season in England with 287 minutes from eight games.
Back in June, Sunderland appointed Régis Le Bris as the new permanent manager. His arrival had no influence on Pembélé’s situation, and he decided to join Le Havre on deadline day.
This has been explained by the fullback himself and he also opened up about his difficult year at Sunderland.
“Humanly and sportingly, I am coming out of a difficult season. I arrived very late, and I never managed to catch up. The coach never trusted me. And the arrival this summer of Régis Le Bris has not changed anything in my situation. So, I preferred to go on loan,” he said.
The Sunderland owned player is yet to make his debut for Le Havre but is pleased to have returned to France.
“I’ve only been here a little over a week and I’m feeling fulfilled again. Quite simply, I’m happy. I’m coming to a club that I know a little bit about, because with PSG I’ve often come to play at La Cavée,” Pembélé explained.
“And here, the coach really trusts the youngsters. In my opinion, La Havre is the ideal place to perform. In fact, as soon as my manager [agent] told me about Le Havre, I accepted straight away. I wanted to get back to Ligue 1.”
Le Havre have an option to buy included as part of the loan deal.
