Sunderland defender Lamine Kone is set to complete a loan move to Ligue 1 club Strasbourg over the next 24 hours, provided he completes a medical examination.
The defender, who arrived on Wearside in January 2016, has been a divisive figure for the last two years ago after he’s repeatedly attempted to find a way to leave the club.
He famously was subject of an £18m bid from Everton - then managed by Ronald Koeman - two years ago, but the club decided to turn it down in a show of authority by David Moyes.
That has since proved to be a terrible mistake, and the club have really struggled to offload a player who, in all honesty, has been largely awful since his defensive partner Younes Kaboul departed for Watford in the summer of 2016.
But finally, after years of trying, it appears we have a breakthrough.
The arrangement which has taken Kone to Strasbourg is one that massively favours Sunderland, even despite the fact its a season-long loan deal.
Strasbourg will shoulder ALL of Kone’s wages, with no contribution included by Sunderland. The player has taken a MASSIVE hit on the amount he’ll receive, though, and has seemingly accepted that in order to get himself away from Wearside he’ll need to dramatically reduce his weekly fee.
Sunderland will also receive a loan fee for the length of time that he’s away from the club.
And, at the end of it all, should Strasbourg decide that they’d like to keep Kone they’ll have an option to buy clause which allows them to do so.
So whilst it’s a disappointing end to a disappointing period for both the club and the player, nobody will be sad to see the back of Kone and he goes to Strasbourg intending to start afresh and reinvigorate a career that has largely died a death in recent years.