Bellingham, Rigg react to ‘devastated’ Romaine Mundle as Sunderland blow confirmed
Jobe Bellingham and Chris Rigg have reacted to an emotional message from Sunderland’s Romaine Mundle after he confirmed a major injury setback.
Sunderland sealed promotion to the Premier League last season with a 2-1 win over Sheffield United in the play-off final at Wembley to end their eight-year spell out of the top-flight.
Mundle was a key performer throughout their Championship campaign, with five goals and two assists in 24 league appearances amid hamstring injury issues.
The Black Cats have already sold Bellingham to Borussia Dortmund for a sizeable fee this summer, but Football Insider recently revealed that Chris Rigg and Dan Neil both look more likely to stay on Wearside than leave the club ahead of the new season.
Sky Sports have previously reported that PSV and OGC Nice are each interested in signing Mundle this summer, while Football Insider revealed on 16 July that Sunderland are set to offer Mundle a new contract to fend off growing interest in his services, but he has now suffered a major setback to his development ahead of the new campaign.
Mundle confirms Sunderland injury setback in emotional statement
The Sunderland Echo reported on Friday, 18 July, that Mundle had picked up an injury during the Black Cats’ pre-season training camp in Portugal, and was set to undergo treatment that will likely see him sidelined for a period of time.
He has now taken to Instagram to provide an update on his situation to Sunderland supporters, confirming that he has undergone surgery on the problem with a picture of him in a hospital bed and an emotional message that reads: “Devastated to be here writing this message and words can’t fully describe the emotions attached to this setback. Sometimes it’s hard to find the positives in situations like these but without a doubt I’ll be back better physically. Surgery was a success and the road to recovery begins now.
“Although it has been a difficult period for me over the last few days, this is only a minor setback and I will be back better than before. Lastly I just want to thank Rowena Johnson, Ernest Schilders, my teammates and staff for their unwavering support and dedication. 14. GodIsGood.”
Mundle’s statement was reacted to by former teammate Bellingham, who commented: “Chin up partner,” while current Black Cats man Rigg replied with two heart emojis, Sunderland play-off hero Tommy Watson said: “Back stronger mate,” and Samuel Iling Jr added a heart emoji in the replies.
Sunderland are replacing Mundle with Lauriente
Football Insider verdict
The prognosis and seriousness of Mundle’s injury is currently not clear to the public, but the Sunderland Echo have confirmed that he is a “major doubt” to feature at the start of the new campaign as he faces spending the rest of pre-season on the sidelines.
His setback will be a troubling one on a personal level, but while Black Cats boss Le Bris will be disappointed at the news, he looks to already be moving to sign a new left-winger in the 22-year-old’s place.
Sunderland are closing in on a deal to sign Armand Lauriente – a former French youth international forward who helped Sassuolo to the Serie B title last season as he netted 18 goals in 33 league appearances.
| Appearances | Goals | Assists |
| 102 | 31 | 18 |
Lauriente will add good depth to Le Bris’ left-sided options in attack after the Black Cats also brought in Simon Adingra from Brighton earlier in the window, and so despite the blow of losing Mundle, the Wearside club should not struggle for attacking prowess at the start of their return to the top-flight.