The 27-year-old Sunderland-owned player is set to miss Tunisia’s second successive warm-up game ahead of this month’s World Cup in Russia.
27-year-old Wahbi Khazri is one of Tunisia’s World Cup hopefuls ahead of the highly anticipated tournament in Russia this month, but reports are emerging from Reuters which suggest the striker will not be ready in time for Tunisia’s first game against England.
Khazri is only one of two Sunderland players travelling to Russia, with Bryan Oviedo also representing the Black Cats with Costa Rica.
But with Khazri set to miss out on Friday’s international against Turkey in Geneva, Oviedo may be the only Sunderland player flying the Wearside flag in Russia, if Khazri does not recover from his reported thigh injury.
Khazri did not enjoy the greatest spell on Wearside after joining in 2016, scoring just three goals in 38 appearances for Sunderland.
The Sunderland flop moved to Rennes on loan in 2017 and has scored nine goals but has not featured anywhere near as much as the French side would like.
And, with questions arising over Khazri’s fitness ahead of the World Cup, Sunderland fans may not be surprised. The player’s time on Wearside came with a whole host of questions surrounding his desire to play for the Black Cats and eventually ended with the forward exiting the club on loan.
Despite Khazri being a Sunderland player when he does travel to Russia, the likelihood of the Tunisian featuring for the Wearsiders in the third tier of English football is highly unlikely.
The forward not only comes with a weekly wage that would be a strain on new owner Stewart Donald’s purse strings, but the option to cash in on the player, as well as Khazri’s want to play top-flight football, will outweigh any chance of him playing for Sunderland again.
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