---
title: "Sunderland: Black Cats given ‘major boost’ over Aji Alese"
canonical: "https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/sunderland-championship-aji-alese-james-hunter-transfer-news-updates/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Henry Jackson"
section: "Championship News"
published: "2022-12-02T13:35:00Z"
modified: "2022-12-02T13:35:00Z"
---

# Sunderland: Black Cats given ‘major boost’ over Aji Alese

**[Sunderland](https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/sunderland-afc-news/) have received a ‘major boost’ with the news that centre-back Aji Alese is back from injury this weekend, following an update from James Hunter.**

### The Lowdown: Sunderland back in action

The Black Cats haven’t played since the 2-1 victory at Birmingham City on November 11, with the [World Cup](https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/world-cup-2022/) in Qatar prompting a hiatus in the club season.

Sunderland are back in action on Saturday as they host Millwall in what is the only [Championship](https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/championship-news/) fixture of the day.

Alese hasn’t been in action since the [2-0 defeat](https://www.whoscored.com/Players/383538/Show/Ajibola-Alese) at Blackburn Rovers in October because of a foot issue, but he is on course to return this weekend.

### The Latest: Hunter drops Alese update

Taking to [Twitter](https://twitter.com/JHunterChron/status/1598353734198870016?s=20&t=x9x6C-Tn27CLjN9YDicORg) in sharing a corresponding article for [Chronicle Live](https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/return-monster-aji-alese-big-25652167?t=), Hunter revealed that the 21-year-old is back fit again and could feature against Millwall tomorrow.

He tweeted:

> “‘Monster’ Aji Alese’s return is a major boost for #safc“

\[freshpress-quiz id=”410591″\]

### The Verdict: Massive boost for Black Cats

This is an undoubted boost for Sunderland, with Alese such an important presence already despite his tender years, being hailed as a ‘[seriously good](https://thisisfutbol.com/2020/09/blogs/premier-league/west-ham-united-tom-edwards-heaps-praise-on-aji-alese/)‘ player by podcaster Tom Edwards during his time at West Ham.

The Englishman has done well in his [10 appearances](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/aji-alese/alletore/spieler/502065) for the Black Cats since joining permanently in the summer, averaging [2.7 clearances](https://www.whoscored.com/Players/383538/Show/Ajibola-Alese) and 1.8 tackles per game in the league this season. Those returns see him rank among the [top five for both metrics](https://www.whoscored.com/Teams/16/Show/England-Sunderland) at the Stadium of Light.

Whether or not Tony Mowbray throws Alese straight into the starting line-up on Saturday remains to be seen, but the probability that the whole squad could be lacking some rhythm after so long without playing makes it less of a risk than it would in the thick of a hectic fixture schedule.