Malick Fofana set for Sunderland switch as Lyon agree €34.9m deal

Malick Fofana is set to continue his career in the Premier League after Lyon agreed a €34.9m transfer with Sunderland for the Belgium winger, according to journalist Santi Aouna.

The 21-year-old is expected to move to Sunderland shortly, with the clubs having reached an agreement over the transfer of the forward. Fofana is also expected to sign a five-year contract with the club, with the proposed deal including an option to extend his stay for a further season.

The move would take Fofana to England despite previous reports linking him with a transfer to Arsenal. Interest from the London club had been reported earlier, but Sunderland are now the club understood to have agreed terms with Lyon for his signature.

Fofana has made six appearances for Lyon in all competitions this season and has scored twice. Those figures form the latest part of his record before the proposed move to Sunderland, where he is expected to begin the next stage of his career.

The transfer fee agreed by the clubs is €34.9m, while the contract structure would initially commit Fofana to Sunderland for five years. The additional option would allow the agreement to be extended by another season, subject to the terms included in the contract.

For Sunderland, the proposed signing would bring a 21-year-old Belgium international-level winger from Lyon to the Premier League. Fofana’s arrival would also represent a significant investment, with the fee placing the focus on a player who has already scored twice during his six appearances this season.

The information has been reported by Santi Aouna, while the transfer remains presented as an expected move rather than a completed signing. Fofana is therefore set to leave Lyon for Sunderland, with the clubs’ agreement and the planned long-term contract forming the basis of the reported deal.

His destination will be Sunderland rather than Arsenal, despite the earlier reports of interest from the north London club. The central development is the agreement between Lyon and Sunderland over a €34.9m transfer, with the player now expected to complete the move to England and sign the proposed five-year contract.

Fofana’s next appearance for Sunderland would follow a season in which he has featured six times across all competitions for Lyon and found the net on two occasions. Until the transfer is formally completed, however, the reported agreement remains the latest stage of the deal rather than an announcement that the move has been finalised.