Sunderland kicked off their 2025/26 campaign with a win at South Shields on Saturday
Régis Le Bris says that Sunderland will assess Ahmed Abdullahi through the pre-season campaign after his encouraging cameo at South Shields.
Abdullahi signed from Gent on deadline day last September, with Sunderland determining that groin surgery was the best option to deal with a pre-existing injury. Though the surgery was successful the striker continued to struggle with injury issues throughout the campaign, but returned to training towards the very end of the campaign and so has been able to hit the ground running in pre-season.
Saturday's first pre-season friendly was his first appearance with the senior team and he took his chance to impress, scoring with virtually the last kick of the game to seal a 4-0 win for the Black Cats. Le Bris is excited to work with Abdullahi more closely in the weeks ahead and admits that his lack of training and game time last season means he remains an unknown quantity to an extent. With Sunderland's summer transfer work still ongoing, the 21-year-old will get further chances to impress as the squad head to Portugal for a pre-season training camp.
"We weren't able to see Ahmed last season because of injury but now he is ready to start and it means he can have a full pre-season," Le Bris said.
"We'll get to know the real Ahmed, now. He is still very young so we don't know exactly what his potential is. It will be interesting to see him through a full pre-season."
Le Bris also welcomed the return of Niall Huggins as he made his first appearance since December 2023. Huggins played the first 45 minutes at South Shields and the Sunderland head coach hopes he will benefit from the club's decision not to rush him back into action at the end of last season.
"Niall is ready to go," Le Bris said.
"It was possible for him right at the end of last season to play but we decided because of the injury that it was best to be safe and for him to just to start this pre-season."
Le Bris promises quick decisions for fringe players after Portugal trip
Speaking after the win at South Shields, Le Bris said he would inform any players who would not be involved in the Premier League squad quickly so that they could find a new club for the upcoming campaign.
"We'll see for every player," he said.
"I told them that the first two weeks we are dedicated to connection. After that we'll have to be clear. Some of them need game time but if it's not possible for the squad in the Premier League it's not necessary to stay here. We'll decide early.
"It's the same for everyone, let's use these two first weeks to understand where they are exactly. Then we will decide for everyone."
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