English Premier League bound AFC Sunderland declined to extend Black Stars midfielder Abdul Salis Samed’s stay beyond the one year loan deal agreed between Sunderland and Samed’s French Ligue 1 side RC Lens.
Samed joined the Black Cats via loan on August 30, 2024 after having playing time hard to come by under former RC Lens head coach Will Still while battling injuries.
In his time at Sunderland, Samed made 11 appearances for the club in all competitions as the Tyneside club qualified from the EFL Championship to the EFL thanks to a playoff win over Sheffield United at Wembley Stadium.
Samed is one of two first team players from the successful team who wasn’t retained with AFC Bournemouth’s Chris Mepham being the other.
Lens have appointed Pierre Sage as head coach with Still moving to Southampton to take up the head coaching position.
Samed recently featured in Ghana’s campaign in the 2025 Unity Cup that had the Black Stars finish third in the four nation tournament won by Nigeria.
