Sunderland‘s Jules Ahoka says he understands Régis Le Bris’ decision to leave him out of the squad for the Premier League side’s 2-0 defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion.
The 20-year-old moved to Europa when Royal Antwerp signed him from AC Normands in September 2025. He was initially part of the Belgium club’s reserve team and made his first team debut in May.
This season, the defensive midfielder started in the first two matches for Royal Antwerp. His potential would have convinced Sunderland to invest around €10m in August.
Royal Antwerp manager Marvin Compper was clearly not happy to have lost the DR Congo U23 international to Sunderland and made his feelings public.
Slow start to Sunderland career
At the weekend, Sport Witness relayed news two matches were enough for Sunderland to sign the midfielder. There’s optimism in his country the Black Cats’ decision could pay off in the long run.
That hasn’t happened yet as Jules Ahoka made his debut in the English club’s EFL Cup win over Hull City. He played the full 90 minutes and that has been his only appearance so far.
Régis Le Bris left him out of the squad in the league defeat to Arsenal and for the match against the Seagulls.
Leopard Leader Foot says his omission against Brighton & Hove Albion led to fan debates and ‘fuelled a wave of unfounded rumours on social media’.
Sunderland player sets record straight
The outlet got in touch with Jules Ahoka for an update on why he missed last Saturday’s clash.
“I arrived on Friday, so I was only able to do one training session, while my teammates trained three times during the week,” he said.
The outlet says the Sunderland manager made a ‘logical decision’ to leave him out. The new signing played two matches for DR Congo’s U23s during the last international break.
Ahoka’s last match was in the 2-0 win over Mauritania U23 in the U23 AFCON qualifies on October 6th. It was a home fixture for DR Congo, at the Stade TP Mazembe. The player then had to travel to the UK, where he only arrived a day before the next fixture.
