Andriy Yarmolenko, Mark Noble and Craig Dawson; Those are just three of the players who featured the last time a West Ham United cult hero started a Premier League match.
April 4th, 2022, to be precise. Nearly 42 months and exactly 1,271 days ago.
Now, as some of his former teammates break new ground – Vladimir Coufal opened his Bundesliga account against Bayern Munich while Pablo Fornals has blossomed at Real Betis into one of La Liga’s best midfielders – Sunderland may be relying on Arthur Masuaku’s ability to roll back the clock as the Black Cats travel to Nottingham Forest.
Masuaku made his 128th and last West Ham United appearance during that 1-0 defeat by Chelsea in April 2022.
Three-and-a-half years later, the veteran DR Congo international could make his return to a Premier League team sheet.
Former West Ham United ace Arthur Masuaku could make full Premier League debut at Sunderland
Sunderland signed Arthur Masuaku on a free transfer in August, shortly after his contract at Turkish giants Besiktas expired.
A 31-year-old freebie always felt like a low-risk, experienced back-up sort of signing. And that is exactly the role he has played under Black Cats coach Regis Le Bris. Not even necessarily Sunderland’s second-choice left-back, but someone capable of bringing Premier League nous and a relatively safe pair of hands to a newly-promoted outfit.
Masuaku has played only ten minutes in a Sunderland shirt so far.
But with the outstanding Reinildo Mandava suspended for this weekend’s City Ground trip – he was shown a straight red for kicking out at Aston Villa’s Matty Cash last time out – Le Bris admits that Masuaku’s first Premier League start in 181 weeks may be on the way.
“Lucha [Geertruida, the RB Leipzig loanee] has played centre-back, right-back, left-back, so he’s an option. We have Arthur as well. So I think, for the back-line, we have different options,” Le Bris said during his Thursday press conference.
“I think, when we built the squad with the recruitment structure, the sporting direction, we thought about different options.
“I think we have a player to cover this position [in Masuaku], and we have versatility as well to create other options depending on the scenario, the opponent, the dynamic of the squad and so on.”
El Hadji Malick Diouf has impressed Jarrod Bowen at West Ham
The ‘amazing’ Sunderland supporters made an impression on Masuaku during his West Ham days.
A lack of match sharpness denied the one-time Olympiakos flyer a place in the squad, however, as the Black Cats faithful set the Stadium of Light stands a-rattling during that 3-0 opening weekend win over his old employers.
Masuaku provided nine assists in 106 Premier League appearances. West Ham heir El Hadji Malick Diouf is well on his way to exceeding that tally, with three already.
Jarrod Bowen calls Diouf ‘one of the best’ crossers he has ever come across in the professional game. And given that he has shared a dressing room with Trent Alexander-Arnold, Reece James and James Ward-Prowse, that is high praise indeed.
“[His crosses make Diouf] one of the best I’ve seen,” said Bowen, who converted a corner delivered by the Senegal international against Crystal Palace on Saturday.
“You know what, I had a little chat with him in training one time because he loves to bomb forward. I said, ‘Every time you get the ball out wide, do not turn back and play the ball to the centre-half. Just put the ball in the box’.
‘If I’m not there, you can shout at me. But if you don’t put the ball in, I am gonna shout at you!’
“For the two goals against [in pre-season] Bournemouth, he crossed it to me. I kind of mis-hit [the first attempt] and played it to ‘Fulle’ [Niclas Fullkrug]. And the second goal, again there was that space and he just put the ball in straight away.
“When you build that kind of relationship as a forward, you want the ball in the box as many times as possible. Defenders don’t want to defend inside the box.”
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