Sunderland AFC: Enzo Le Fee drops encouraging Premier League admission ahead of Coventry City play-off tie | OneFootball

The Frenchman will be obligated to move to the northeast permanently if the Black Cats win the play-offs.

Enzo Le Fee has revealed that he wants to play for Sunderland in the Premier League, ahead of the club's play-off campaign.

The Black Cats struggled to keep pace with the top three for the whole season, but they will have another chance to get themselves back up to the top flight since 2017.

Coventry City will present a tough test for Regis Le Bris' side, who will travel to the CBS Arena on Friday before hosting the Sky Blues at the Stadium of Light on Monday.

For Le Fee, Sunderland's Roma loanee who has wowed the Wearsiders since arriving in the winter window, the play-offs present a chance for him to achieve one of his goals: representing the club in the Premier League.

Enzo Le Fee's Sunderland, Premier League dream

During the 25-year-old French midfielder's younger years, the Spanish first division was what dominated European football. Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo spent their prime years with Barcelona and Real Madrid, respectively, attracting the eyes of aspiring footballers across the continent, Le Fee's being one of them.

He said that he loved watching the league, but, as has been the case for many other Europeans, the attraction of playing in the Premier League has grown considerably over recent years.

"When I was younger, the main league I used to watch and wanted to play in was La Liga," Le Fee told the Sunderland Echo. "That was my [style of] football, and I'm a big, big fan of Barcelona. [My hero] was [Andres] Iniesta. A genius. It was like he had eyes in the back of his head. But when I came here and I played, I said straight away, ‘I want to play in the Premier League.’

"I used to watch Premier League games and it was nice but when you play in the Championship… you imagine what it would be like. The atmosphere in the stadium, the football as well, I like. It is more about the transitions and I’ve enjoyed this. I said, ‘I want to play in the Premier League with Sunderland’."

Sunderland will be happy to pull Enzo Le Fee trigger if promoted

A return to the top flight would mean more than getting back to the Premier League and all the benefits that can come with it, although there have been a lot of negatives to the deal for recently promoted sides. Le Fee will become a Sunderland player permanently if the Black Cats are the ones to lift the trophy at Wembley later this month.

In the event of promotion, they would be obligated to sign the Frenchman from Roma for just over £19 million if they go up, but they surely won't be complaining about that.

Le Fee is an immense talent who could easily be one of the players that develops into a certified, top-tier talent, should Sunderland join Leeds and Burnley next season.

He's largely been played out of position, over on the left-wing, since arriving at the Stadium of Light. Sunderland supporters will be hoping to see him flourish in his more natural role, down the middle of the pitch, en route to getting them back to their dream destination.