Régis Le Bris welcomed the arrival of Malick Fofana at Sunderland. Recruited in the final hours of the transfer window from Olympique Lyonnais, the 21-year-old Belgian winger has already taken his first steps with his new teammates. “ Everyone’s commitment to finalizing this transfer demonstrates the strengths of our club. He has trained and already seems perfectly integrated into the group », explained the French coach. Sunderland had to fight until the end to obtain the signature of Fofana, also courted by several European teams. The English club had reached an initial agreement with OL around 35 million euros before Crystal Palace took the lead with a proposal close to 40 million. Fofana had even agreed to reunite with Pierre Sage, his former coach at Lyon, but Sunderland finally returned to the race to complete the operation.
Long considered untransferable by OL, Malick Fofana was finally sacrificed after Lyon’s elimination against Fenerbahçe in the Champions League, which accentuated the need to sell to balance the club’s finances. Leipzig, AS Roma, Arsenal and Crystal Palace had notably studied its situation in the last weeks of the transfer window. The Belgian international will now discover the Premier League under the orders of Régis Le Bris after a last season disrupted by a long injury, which also deprived him of the 2026 World Cup. Sunderland is banking on his speed, his percussion qualities and his potential to allow him to reach a new milestone.
