Sunderland Strike Deal With French Side For This Defender: What He Would Bring To The Stadium Of Light
If a recent update from the transfer expert Fabrizio Romano is believed to be true, Sunderland are closing in on Nordi Mukiele, the versatile Paris St-Germain defender, who would become their twelfth summer signing since being promoted to the Premier League following a dramatic Championship playoff final victory over Sheffield United.
The 27-year-old Frenchman also featured for his nation once, having represented them frequently at various youth levels. He began his club career with Paris FC before joining the academy ranks of Laval. Les Tango promoted him to their senior squad after a brief stint with the reserves, and the then-Ligue 1 side Montpellier eventually secured his services for c1.5m in January 2017.
Mukiele was snapped up by RB Leipzig for a fee of around €16m ahead of the 2018-19 season, and after four full seasons in Germany, making 146 appearances across competitions, he returned to France with the Parisians for a similar package. There, he stayed as a squad option for a couple of campaigns but was loaned out to Bayer Leverkusen last summer due to a lack of game time under Luis Enrique.
Although Xabi Alonso deployed him 24 times, his flexibility was utilised in central defence as well as down the right-hand side of Leverkusen’s defensive setup. The Black Cats could benefit from his arrival, particularly in a cut-price €11m transfer, as per the report from France.
