OTD: PAPY DJILOBODJI SIGNS

On this day in 2016, Papy Djilobodji joined Sunderland. He cost SAFC £8 million...

Papy moved to France in 2009, and became a mainstay in the Nantes defence. He played almost 200 games for the club, and reportedly, in 2015, Sunderland and Villa were both interested in the defender.

But it was Chelsea who eventually came in for Djilobodji, for a fee rumoured to be around £3-4 million. He spent six months warming the bench (making just one appearance which was a late sub cameo away to Walsall in the League Cup- not exactly glamorous). The erratic defender was loaned to Werder Bremen but his spell in Germany just brought more chaos. He was Man of the Match on his debut, then scored a comedy own goal against Leverkusen, in March received a retrospective two-match ban for making a throat-slitting gesture at an opponent and then scored a late winner in the final game of the season to save ‘Die Werderaner’ from relegation!

Despite never playing a minute for Chelsea in the Premier League, the club somehow persuaded Sunderland to pay a very hefty fee for his services. The Blues actually made a profit (more than doubled their money) on a player who played one minute for them in all competitions!

His Sunderland career actually didn’t start too badly. We lost to Boro in our first home game of the season, but he looked decent and was one of the few positives to come out of the defeat (after which David Moyes claimed we were in a relegation battle). He was a regular first-teamer that season, but fans quickly realised that while he may have the physical attributes to be a competent footballer he simply didn’t have a brain.

When we played Hull in November (the lights went out, remember?) we were 3-0 up with the clock approaching 90 minutes. Djilobodji, already on a yellow, threw himself into a needless challenge and received a second yellow. A stupid red card when you’re coasting in the last minutes of a match.

He played 23 games in that relegation season, but when we were in the Championship he joined Dijon on loan. We were of course relegated again, and when our new owners came in Djilobodji, alongside Didier Ndong, went AWOL in a bizarre situation. They refused to come back for pre-season, and when the club threatened legal action and the pair returned, Djilobodji was deemed unfit. A lengthy battle between Donald and Djilobodji ensued, but eventually the defender was rightfully sacked.

Papy’s reputation really took a hit when he was sacked, and he’s now playing in Turkey with Sariyer - he joined them in July 2025.