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David Moyes has broken Sunderland's transfer record after swooping for Lorient midfielder Didier NDong.
The 22-year-old Gabonese international has joined the club for a fee of €16m, with potential add-ons taking it to £17m - a deal which eclipses the £13m Steve Bruce paid for Asamoah Gyan in 2010.
Ndong only joined Lorient from Tunisian side CF Sfaxien in January 2015 but - despite a brief struggle to establish himself in the side, not helped by a rash red card early in his Lorient career - quickly made himself a mainstay in midfield and did enough to earn a record transfer to the Stadium of Light.
Usually described as an all-action box to box midfielder whose main weakness is a tendency for rash challenges. Which may well be true considering he will come to Sunderland with one game of a two-game suspension to complete. You can read a full scout report on our new record signing HERE and a Q&A with an African football writer, Lotfi Wada, HERE.
Ndong becomes Moyes' seventh signing of the summer following the arrivals of Papy Djilobodji, Donald Love, Paddy McNair, Steven Pienaar, Adnan Januzaj and Javier Manquillo, with more expected before the end of the transfer window later tonight.
Speaking to safc.com about the move, Ndong expressed his delight at completing the move;
I am very proud and happy to sign for Sunderland. This is a new adventure for me and to play in the Premier League is a dream come true.
Maybe the Sunderland fans don't know me yet, but I promise that they will quickly discover that I will give everything for them and the club. It will be an honour to wear the Sunderland shirt and I will wear it with a true understanding of what it means.
I am excited to meet everyone at the club, to see the stadium and of course the fans, who I have heard so many good things about. Today is the most beautiful day of my life.
