Sunderland Strike Deal With French Side For This Defender: What He Would Bring To The Stadium Of Light | OneFootball

If a recent update from the transfer expert Fabrizio Romano is believed to be true, Sunderland are closing in on Nordi Mukiele, the versatile Paris St-Germain defender, who would become their twelfth summer signing since being promoted to the Premier League following a dramatic Championship playoff final victory over Sheffield United.

The 27-year-old Frenchman also featured for his nation once, having represented them frequently at various youth levels. He began his club career with Paris FC before joining the academy ranks of Laval. Les Tango promoted him to their senior squad after a brief stint with the reserves, and the then-Ligue 1 side Montpellier eventually secured his services for c1.5m in January 2017.

Mukiele was snapped up by RB Leipzig for a fee of around €16m ahead of the 2018-19 season, and after four full seasons in Germany, making 146 appearances across competitions, he returned to France with the Parisians for a similar package. There, he stayed as a squad option for a couple of campaigns but was loaned out to Bayer Leverkusen last summer due to a lack of game time under Luis Enrique.

Although Xabi Alonso deployed him 24 times, his flexibility was utilised in central defence as well as down the right-hand side of Leverkusen’s defensive setup. The Black Cats could benefit from his arrival, particularly in a cut-price €11m transfer, as per the reports from France.

PARIS, FRANCE – NOVEMBER 24: Nordi Mukiele #26 of Paris Saint-Germain controls the ball against Takumi Minamino #18 of AS Monaco during the Ligue 1 Uber Eats match between Paris Saint-Germain and AS Monaco at Parc des Princes on November 24, 2023 in Paris, France. (Photo by Catherine Steenkeste/Getty Images for Qatar Airways )

Why Sunderland Made A Smart Move By Snapping Up The Frenchman

Sunderland, under Regis Le Bris, played some exciting football en route to clinching a top-flight return. He promoted an array of emerging prospects as first-team regulars, and the management have backed their French chief so far this summer with a transfer war chest of almost £150m. The experience has been added through Granit Xhaka, Reinildo Mandava and Arthur Masuaku to find the right balance in their battle for survival; however, there have been concerns at the back for quite some time amid injuries to skipper Luke O’Nien, Aji Alese, Leo Hjelde, and Dennis Cirkin.

While both Reinildo and Masuaku would restore depth down the left until Cirkin regains fitness, the Wearsiders should opt for another centre-half even though they tied down Omar Alderete from Getafe earlier this week. Jhon Lucumi of Bologna has been a long-term target, but the growing uncertainties over his availability could be mitigated by Mukiele’s arrival at the Stadium of Light.

The Red-and-Blues defender could slot in the heart of the backline, exhibiting his aerial and physical supremacy, ability to play it out from the deep, timely interceptions and no-nonsense clearances. Also, his pace, dribbles, marauding runs, cut-insides, and crosses would see him challenge and cover Trai Hume, the young right fullback, who penned a new deal recently to extend his stay till the summer of 2030.

Despite being one of the Mackems’ prized assets, the Northern Ireland international lacks top-flight experience. Mukiele, on the other hand, has played for several European giants across various high-profile competitions, and his addition would help Sunderland get over the line by meeting their season goals.