Sunderland may finally be able to get shut of Lamine Kone.
According to L’Equipe, Strasbourg are planning to sign Sunderland defender Lamine Kone permanently – if they can find an agreement on his wages.
Sunderland saw Kone star after arriving from Lorient in 2016, but his time at the Stadium of Light went south quickly, having been prevented from joining Everton just months after arriving.
The 30-year-old struggled in his first full season with the Black Cats, suffering relegation from the Premier League, and the same happened last season as Sunderland dropped into the third tier.
Sunderland couldn’t take Kone’s wages into League One, and instead sent him back to France, allowing him to join Strasbourg on a season-long loan deal.
Kone played 31 games for Strasbourg this season, notching two goals and one assist, finishing 11th in the Ligue 1 table – and he may now be staying in Alsace.
L’Equipe claim that Strasbourg are planning to sign Kone permanently, but his wages are an issue, even with the Ivorian being prepared to drop his demands to facilitate a move.
Sunderland will just be hoping to get a deal done as soon as possible, bringing in some cash to strengthen their own squad this summer having missed out on promotion back to the Championship.
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