15 March 2023 , 22:11
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Barcelona forward Ousmane Dembele caused a stir on social media on Wednesday evening - after he was spotted taking in Sunderland's encounter against Championship high-fliers Sheffield United at the Stadium of Light.
Dembele, 25, has been regularly linked with a switch to England over the past 12 months given the huge financial issues which are plaguing Barcelona.
Although the winger eventually decided to put pen to paper on a new deal with the Spanish giants last season, he did fly over to the United Kingdom this midweek to take in one of the top games in the English second tier.
Dembele, who has been out of action for the past few weeks with a hamstring injury, was spotted by the Sky Sports cameras watching Sunderland's clash against Sheffield United. Whilst the Frenchman's presence left fans baffled on social media, there is an explanation for his attendance.
The former Borussia Dortmund star is good friends with Sunderland owner Kyril Louis-Dreyfus, who purchased a controlling stake in the club back in February 2021.
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Dembele and Louis-Dreyfus have a number of snaps together on social media and the Barcelona star even sent a congratulatory message to the Black Cats on his Instagram when they won promotion the Championship via the League One play-offs back in the summer.
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Ousmane Dembele has been sidelined for the past few weeks with a hamstring injury (Getty Images)Intriguingly, Dembele isn't the only high-profile name who has taken in a high-stakes Championship game in recent weeks; FIFA president Gianni Infantino was a surprise guest at The Den earlier this month, where he took in Millwall's clash with Norwich.
Despite only winning promotion back to the second tier in the summer, Sunderland were firmly in the mix for the Championship play-offs before their meeting with Sheffield United on Wednesday night.
But after falling to a 2-1 defeat against the Blades, Sunderland are eight points behind sixth-placed Millwall, who occupy the final play-off berth.
Sunderland came up short in their big Championship encounter against Sheffield United (Stu Forster/Getty)A number of sides with aspirations of gatecrashing the Championship's top six dropped points in midweek, with West Brom and Norwich held by Huddersfield and Cardiff respectively to leave them adrift of the Lions.
Sheffield United, meanwhile, restored their six point cushion over Michael Carrick's Middlesbrough in the race for automatic promotion. The Blades, who have faltered in recent weeks, fought back with goals from Manchester City loanees James McAteer and Tommy Doyle after Edouard Michut had nudged Sunderland into an early lead.
Burnley were the big winners in midweek. The Clarets cruised to a 3-1 win over Hull City and look destined to clinch an instant return to the Premier League under Vincent Kompany.