Former Arsenal defender Emmanuel Eboue’s embryonic Sunderland career appears to be over after Sam Allardyce revealed he had not spoken to the defender since his Fifa ban.
Eboue was handed a year-long suspension from the game last month over a £1million monetary dispute between the Ivory Coast international and his former agent Sebastien Boisseau.
Sunderland had given Eboue, whose contract with the club ran until the end of the season, two weeks in which to bring his affairs in order but Allardyce has revealed that the club have heard nothing from the 32-year-old since.
“We haven’t heard anything so I think the writing’s on the wall,” he said.
“We’ve not had hide nor hair of what position he’s in, or if he’s about to settle it or not. I think we’ll have to draw a line under it this week.”
Allardyce had hoped that the addition of Eboue, who made over 200 appearances for Arsenal between 2004 and 2011, would add valuable experience to Sunderland’s relegation fight.
However within 22 days of his signing a contract news broke of Eboue’s Fifa ban and Allardyce is now cursing a decision that has done nothing to aid his side’s battle against the drop.
“I’m disappointed that he never told us about it in the first place when he first got here,” he added.
“We may have been able to resolve the situation before it got to this desperate stage.
“And then of course, the hard work that we put in to get him to this level and me thinking he could play a part in our run-in as an experienced player.”
