Former Black Stars assistant coach, George Boateng, has thrown his support behind injury-ridden Ghana midfielder Salis Samed, backing him to succeed in England. 

The Ghanaian midfielder joined Championship side Sunderland in the summer of 2024 in search for more game time after he was surplus to requirement at RC Lens. 

However, the loan move has hardly gone right, with injuries and managerial decisions seeing the midfielder further fall behind the pecking order in Sunderland’s ranks. 

‘’Samed is a very good midfielder, and we were lucky to have him at the World Cup in Qatar," George told 3sports.

"He was one of the surprising players that came to the squad and fit in perfectly playing alongside Thomas Partey. Coming into the Championship with Sunderland was difficult because of the injury he had.

He had a long-term injury that kept him out for a while, and breaking into the first team has been difficult.’ He has been very unfortunate with injuries, but he is a player with attributes that I think are suited for the English game. If the loan can be extended to next season, then we can expect more from Samed,” he added. 

Salis was an unused substitute on Tuesday as Sunderland took a huge step in returning to the Premier League with a 3-2 aggregate win over Frank Lampard Coventry City.

Sunderland will face Sheffield United in the final of the playoffs for a place in the Premier League. 

Samed has featured in 10 championship games this season and is yet to provide an assist or find the back of the net.