It's been a tough few months for Sunderland supporters who have seen their team drop out of the top flight and back into the Championship.

We've seen David Moyes leave his post at the helm of the club in recent weeks too, which hasn't helped the transition back into the second tier.

But it's clear that whoever takes over at the Stadium of Light is going to have a tough job in what will be a very competitive league again during the 2017/2018 campaign.

But there's one man we here at the FLW think could be Sunderland's rock next season and that's £4million-rated defender Papy Djilobodji.

The former Chelsea man hasn't seen much match action in recent months but with Sunderland's relegation to the Championship now confirmed, he might be one of the stars that does remain on the books to fight for his place in the team.

If we're being genuinely honest, he didn't show a massive amount of quality when he did get time on the pitch last season but he's a player with a seriously strong reputation that just needs match action under his belt.

Djilobodji is a lumbering unit at the heart-of-defence who at this level, would be amongst the best in the division. But as Aston Villa found out last season, it's never going to be easy to make a seriously swift return and they'll need players like Djilobodji to lead from the back.

Whether he stays or not is yet to be seen but if he does remain and get consistent matches under his belt, he could be a real find.

Sunderland fans- do you agree? Leave your thoughts down below!