Sunderland commit to club-record transfer immediately after sealing Premier League return

Sunderland’s dramatic 95th-minute winner against Sheffield United at Wembley means they will have to pay Roma £19.3million to sign loanee midfielder Enzo Le Fee

Sunderland have wasted no time in splashing the cash after sealing their return to the Premier League by signing Enzo Le Fee. The Black Cats beat Sheffield United 2-1 in the Championship play-off final on Saturday and the dramatic win had the knock-on effect of making Le Fee’s stay in the north east permanent.

Tommy Watson’s dramatic 95th-minute winner at Wembley is worth an estimated £220million to Sunderland, who will play in the Premier League for the first time in eight years. It also granted Le Fee his wish to stay with Sunderland, having enjoyed his time with the club since joining on loan from Roma in January.

The 25-year-old midfielder has played a key role since arriving, playing 15 times in the Championship before providing two key assists in the play-offs. His loan deal contained a €23million (£19.3m) obligation to make the move permanent if Sunderland were promoted – a deal Black Cats boss Regis Le Bris was delighted to rubber-stamp.

Le Bris was academy director at Lorient when Le Fee was 10 years old and it was their previous relationship that convinced the Frenchman to snub other offers to move to Sunderland. He has now become the club’s record signing, with his fee eclipsing the £13.6m they paid Lorient for Didier Ndong in August 2016.

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“First of all, he has been a strong team mate,” Le Bris said when reflecting on the Le Fee deal. “This is what I want to reiterate. He started as a left winger, playing most of the time in position. When we had the opportunity to play with Romaine [Mundle] again, it was a chance to play Enzo in his main position.

“Because they have not had much experience together, their references were probably not very clean. We felt that our connection in midfield was not perfect in this game, but we felt that the experience of playing was useful later in the game. It proved to be the case.”

Le Fee is used to the pressure that comes with a big transfer fee, having previously joined Rennes for £17m and Roma for £20m in his young career. He struggled to make an impact in Italy, but is thriving under Le Bris’ management.

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“I want to be in Sunderland next year, for sure,” he told The Times before the play-off final. “I work since the last six months for that. Now it is one game, and it is the most important game of my life.”

He added: “Since my first game here, my first training as well, I enjoy my football. I enjoy to be on the pitch. This is what I lost in Rome. If I can’t enjoy my time on the pitch, I will be s*** for sure, so if I enjoy, sometimes I can be s*** – you can’t always be good, something can happen – but in general in my head I know I will enjoy and I will be good.”

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