Sunderland have confirmed the permanent signing of Enzo Le Fée on a long-term contract

Enzo Le Fée has said that Sunderland’s play-off win over Sheffield United was the most important game of his life after triggering his permanent move to Wearside.

Le Fée has signed a four-year deal to stay at Sunderland after that win at Wembley secured promotion to the Premier League and triggered an obligation-to-buy clause in his loan from AS Roma.

The 25-year-old will become a club-record signing if all clauses and add-ons in the deal are met, which would take the fee to just under £20 million. The midfielder said that there were greater challenges ahead now for the club but that that he could not wait to test himself at Premier League level.

“I said before the play-off final that my heart was in Sunderland – I wanted to stay, and this made it the most important game of my life,” Le Fée said.

“Together, we did it. From the moment I arrived, I have enjoyed my football, my team-mates, and our supporters. We shared an incredible experience, and now we get to take the next step. There are greater challenges ahead, but we must face them together, and I can’t wait to play for Sunderland in the Premier League.”

What Enzo Le Fée has previously said about his Sunderland and Premier League ambitions

In an exclusive interview with The Echo ahead of the play-off campaign, Le Fée reflected on how much he was enjoying life on Wearside and how determined he was to play for the club in the Premier League.

“When I came, I received a lot of messages on social media - for me it was incredible,” Le Fée said.

“In my first game, I hear some songs for me and I loved that. I think everybody loves when the fans can sing his name.

“When I was younger the main league I used to watch and wanted to play in was La Liga. That was my [style of] football, and I'm a big, big fan of Barcelona. [My hero] was Iniesta. A genius. It was like he had eyes in the back of his head. But when I came here and I played, I said straight away, ‘I want to play in the Premier League.’ I used to watch Premier League games and it was nice but when you play in the Championship… you imagine what it would be like. The atmospheres, the football as well, I like. It is more about the transitions and I’ve enjoyed this. I said, ‘I want to play in the Premier League with Sunderland’.

“The biggest pleasure in football for me is to find the pass for my striker. When you play in Italy it's different sometimes because you can play against a blocked team and so it's difficult to find those passes. But in transition football, it can be easier.”

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