A French football expert has hailed the signing Sunderland made on deadline day.

Sunderland fans will LOVE deadline day signing Malick Fofana after a chaotic deadline day pursuit.

That’s the verdict of French football expert Robin Bairner after Sunderland beat Premier League rivals Crystal Palace to the signing of the former Lyon winger on a long-term contract.

It concluded one of the most extraordinary transfer sagas of recent times on Wearside, with a Crystal Palace almost hijacking a deal that had been agreed early on deadline day. However, after further talks and the personal intervention of Sunderland owner Kyril Louis-Dreyfus, Fofana recommitted to the move to Wearside.

The deal could yet become a club record transfer, with the Black Cats paying an initial €30 million that could rise by another €5 million depending on performance.

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French football expert Robin Bairner told BBC Radio Newcastle: “This would be a really tremendous signing not only for what Fofana can provide for them at the moment but for what he can potentially do for them in the future. I think it's a great deal not just because of his quality as a player which is undoubted but you know the price point that they're going to get him at, we're probably looking at sort of 30 to 40 million euros is absolutely outstanding considering what we've seen other left wingers go for in this market."

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He added: "It's obviously been a hugely inflated transfer market overall but you know this price for Fofana is really good. I mean he's been described as a sort of budget Bradley Barcola, we've seen Barcola obviously go to Liverpool for around 140 million euros and Sunderland look like they're going to get him for a fraction of that price and he has many of the same sort of qualities.

"He's a really quick winger, he loves to take on his opponent, he really gives impetus to his team when they're attacking and there's a really exciting player. The Sunderland fans will love him I'm sure."

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