Rennes are confident of signing Wahbi Khazri from Sunderland on loan.
Whabi Khazri of Sunderland in action during the pre season friendly against Livingston.
Toulouse are also interested in signing the 26-year-old, but Rennes have said that they are confident that they will land the winger.
Wahbi Khazri of Sunderland takes on Lewis Stevenson of Hibernian.
Yet the Black Cats are expected to continue paying a large chunk of Khazri’s wages should he return to Ligue 1, having only made the switch to England from Bordeaux in January 2016.
The Tunisia international was an important player at the Stadium of Light under Sam Allardyce, but has fallen down the pecking order under David Moyes and now Simon Grayson and told French outlet SFR Sport that he wanted to leave the Championship club.
So while staying on Wearside and forcing himself into Grayson’s plans doesn’t look like an option, leaving on loan does not really help his current club either.
Sunderland manager Simon Grayson.
That is because, like the loan moves of Fabio Borini to AC Milan and Jeremain Lens to Besiktas, it doesn’t free up any immediate funds for new signings.
The Chronicle reports that the North East outfit had £110.4m worth of debts in their last accounts, something that is only set to worsen following relegation from the Premier League and while the £30m sale of Jordan Pickford to Everton and £2m departure of Vito Mannone to Reading would have helped, receiving little to no money for Borini, Lens and now Khazri was not part of the plan.
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