Fresh twist emerges in Alexandre Mendy, Sunderland transfer saga | OneFootball

Despite Sunderland's long-term interest in SM Caen forward, Alexandre Mendy, the 30-year-old is set to stay with the French club.

The transfer saga to end all transfer sagas appears to have come to an end, as Alexandre Mendy looks set to stay at SM Caen despite long-running interest from Sunderland.

According to Ouest France, the striker has decided to remain at the French club for another season and will be training ahead of the club's Ligue 2 fixture with Annecy.

Sunderland's interest in Mendy was made public over a month ago, when the striker put out what was to be the first of several statements stating his desire to move to Wearside, as per Foot Mercato.

After a series of statements and reports, the club were unable to agree a deal, and the club are now actively pursuing other targets before tomorrow's deadline.

The Mendy saga explained

On July 19th, it was revealed by French outlet, Foot Mercato, that a deal had been reached between the two clubs over the transfer of Mendy. Naturally, when the news broke, it was assumed that the deal to bring him to Wearside was imminent.

During an exclusive interview with FLW, French-based journalist, Luke Entwistle, revealed that Mendy would cost the Black Cats £3-4m, which would have represented the highest fee spent on a player during the Kyril Louis-Dreyfus era, with the £2.5m spent on Nazariy Rusyn the current record.

Sunderland's opening offer for Mendy was reported to be less than £1m, as per Sport in Caen, which was considerably short of the club's valuation of the player.

Then, perhaps the most staggering twist in the Mendy plot occurred, when it was revealed that Kylian Mbappé was supposedly holding up the move. As reported by Foot Mercato, the French superstar wanted to keep Mendy ahead of his proposed takeover of the club.

As the summer dragged on, a deal to bring Mendy to the North East looked increasingly unlikely, but the striker's desire to move remained, as he released a series of statements expressing his desire to move to Wearside.

Yesterday, on the player's Instagram page, he posted the following message on his story: “You will wait. You will pray. You will be frustrated. You will question everything. But you will continue to be patient. You will continue to pray. Then one day, when you least expect it, it will finally happen. So never stop believing.”

While his post appears desperate, today's news suggests that the striker will not be going anywhere this summer.

While Sunderland's pursuit of Mendy seems to have come to an end, the club have been pursuing other targets, with Tom Cannon emerging as their leading target.

According to journalist, John Percy, the Black Cats made a bid of around £5m for the Leicester City man, while there are several other clubs interested in his signature.

Although the Republic of Ireland international has shown potential in the Championship, his record is nowhere near that of Mendy's, although it would be hard to compare given they play in different leagues.

While the striker impressed during his loan spell at Preston North End, with eight goals in 20 games, he failed to make an impact at Leicester. However, the forward did suffer a back injury and faced stiff competition from Jamie Vardy and Kelechi Iheanacho.

Sunderland also hold an interest in Roko Simic, as per Chronicle Live, with Croatian outlet, Germanijak, reporting that the forward had travelled to Wearside for a medical. However, there has been no news of an agreement, and it appears Cannon is their most likely target.

While the Mendy saga seems to have come to an end, there is still one day of the transfer window remaining, and as is the case with football, anything can happen.

The Black Cats' bid for Cannon would suggest that he is their number one target, but the club face fierce competition from their Championship rivals.