Malick Fofana looked set to join Sunderland, with Arsenal opting not to pursue the signing due to Lyon’s valuation of the winger, then Crystal Palace tried to hijack the deal. Now, Palace don’t know where he is with reports he’s on his way to Sunderland.
On Monday night, David Ornstein of The Athletic was among those to report that Arsenal were weighing up a move to sign Malick Fofana from Lyon on deadline day.
The suggestion was that the club viewed the move as a possible ‘market opportunity’, with Lyon missing out on Champions League football.
But the burgeoning transfer saga looked like it had been brought to an early end, with Ornstein reporting for the same publication that Sunderland have reached an agreement to complete the signing for a fee in the region of €35m.
The player was granted permission to travel for a medical, ahead of signing a five-year deal with an option for a sixth.
But before that could happen, it was being reported that Crystal Palace had made a late move for the winger and were trying to hijack the deal and the player was in London. Their manager Pierre Sage had managed Fofana at Lyon.
A few hours later, with it looking like he was set to move to Selhurst Park, it then was reported by Get French Football News that, “although Fofana is in London, he’s yet to undergo a medical with Crystal Palace, and the Eagles are currently left in the dark regarding the player’s whereabouts.”
Santi Aouana of FootMercato, however, seemed to know. He said Fofana was flying to Sunderland. That move, it seems, could be back on.
Hugo Guillemet from L’Equipe, however, suggested it hadn’t quite got that far, but Sunderland were back in the running after offering a higher commission to his agent, who is no longer passing information to Palace about the player. Palace, meanwhile, were expecting him for his medical.
As for why Arsenal didn’t make the signing, Fabrizio Romano reports that Arsenal decided against investing the €35-40m transfer fee Lyon wanted.
Santi Aouna of Foot Mercato had reported that Arsenal didn’t even want to pay a fee upfront, preferring to secure a loan with an option to buy.
Given Lyon’s need for money after missing out on Europe, and the interest of other Premier League clubs, the French side had no need to drop their asking price.
Fofana is a talented young winger, with 19 goals and eight assists in his 84 appearances for Lyon. But he’s clearly more a long-term development signing than somebody who could immediately raise the level of the team, and that’s evidently affected Arsenal’s valuation.
Sami Mokbel had also reported for the BBC on Monday night that there wasn’t universal backing at Arsenal over a move for Fofana, so perhaps it’s for the best it didn’t go through.
On the other side of things, it now looks very unlikely Arsenal are going to sign a forward before Tuesday’s deadline, with Julian Alvarez set to remain with Atletico Madrid.
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