Sunderland come out of nowhere
Absolutely nobody saw Sunderland coming.
Arsenal had been in the mix. Crystal Palace too. Hull City were circling. AS Roma and RB Leipzig had both been sniffing around the deal for much of the summer. Then on Tuesday morning, deadline day, the club from the north east of England hit the gas and swept the lot up.
The agreement between Lyon and the Black Cats is worth 30 million euros, plus around 5 million in add-ons. The Athletic broke the story, Foot Mercato confirmed it. Given permission by Lyon to travel, the 21-year-old Belgian winger is due to have his medical before signing a five-year deal, running to 2031, with a sixth year as an option. A few admin jobs still need sorting before the window shuts on Tuesday night.
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Lyon are selling because they have no choice
This is not a football decision.
Without Champions League football, and the cash that comes with it, Lyon have to raise about 50 million euros before the deadline. Fofana was the biggest asset in the squad. The maths was brutally simple.
And it still isn’t done. At 30 million plus add-ons, Lyon are still short of their target and will need to move on at least one more player by Tuesday night. Duje Caleta-Car has already torn up his deal to join Sassuolo. An agreement is in place with Juventus for Nicolás Tagliafico. The Youssouf Fofana deal, though, is still stuck.
What Sunderland have just bought
Regis Le Bris had been hunting for a left winger for weeks. He looked at Igor Paixao. Then Jack Grealish. In the end, he lands on the Lyon man. Sunderland, who have qualified for the Europa League, had already brought in Thomas Meunier, Dayann Methalie and Jules Ahoka this summer.
A 21-year-old who came through in Belgium and made his name in Ligue 1, now thrown straight into the most physical league in Europe. We’ll see how that goes.
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