Sunderland set to complete signing of Ligue 1 youngster 'within hours'
Sunderland could soon conclude a deal for Isaac Lihadji with the Frenchman absent from Lille training on Wednesday to finalise his future.
The Black Cats have been pursuing the winger throughout January, with Lille also keen to bring an end to his disappointing time at Stade Pierre-Mauroy.
According to La Voix Du Nord, the deal is likely to be completed very quickly from this point.
Lihadji was once seen as one of the top prodigies in French football after starring at the under-17 World Cup in 2019 shortly after making his Marseille debut in Ligue 1.
He has lost his way since then, though. A contract dispute forced him out of Marseille, which was owned at the time by the Louis-Dreyfus family.
Several of Europe’s top clubs looked at him, including Barcelona, Manchester United and Borussia Dortmund, but it was Lille who won the race with the promise of him being involved in the first-team immediately.
That hasn’t gone well, though, and Lihadji has gradually fallen away from the first-team picture over the last two-and-a-half years.
He is still only 20-years-old, though, so there is more than enough time to develop his obvious talent and Sunderland are backing themselves to do it.
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Lihadji is a left-footed right winger, and appears to represent Sunderland’s succession plan to Amad Diallo.
The club know that they are losing the on-loan Manchester United star this summer, and they are hoping that Lihadji will be ready to immediately step into the void left by the Ivorian after six months to acclimatise to the club and English football.
That acclimation process should be made considerably easier by a growing contingent of French youngsters for Lihadji to join. Abdoullah Ba and Edouard Michut (both 19) were joined by 21-year-old Pierre Ekwah earlier this month. Another French youngster, Atleef Konate, is reportedly close to joining from Nottingham Forest too.
Since Lihadji is out of contract at Lille in the summer and they don’t see a future for him at the club, Sunderland will not be paying a transfer fee, which looks like more clever scouting by the Championship club.
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