Agent says Sunderland held talks before £17m RB Leipzig move for Yan Diomande | OneFootball

“That’s right. During negotiations with Leipzig, things also became very concrete with Sunderland. However, they didn’t want to trigger the release clause.”

Diomande’s agent, Wolfgang Meier, said it speaking to Sky Sports.

The 19-year-old joined RB Leipzig from Leganes last summer after the Bundesliga club triggered his €20million release clause, around £17million. He has since emerged as one of Germany’s most exciting young attackers, with his pace and dribbling even drawing praise from national coach Julian Nagelsmann.

“Many other clubs who could have paid the €20million said they found the player very interesting, but a transfer was too risky due to his limited playing time. Of the big Bundesliga clubs, only Borussia Dortmund showed interest in him. Only on the last day did clubs like VfL Wolfsburg and Sporting suddenly want to jump in.”

The revelation sheds light on Sunderland’s summer thinking under Florent Ghisolfi. Diomande matched the brief of a young, high-upside attacker with resale potential, but the £17million clause was a major commitment given his limited senior minutes at the time.

Leipzig then handed him a five-year deal after activating the clause. He scored in the DFB-Pokal against SV Sandhausen, opened his Bundesliga account in a 6-0 win at Augsburg, then hit a hat-trick in a 6-0 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt, becoming the second-youngest to do so in Bundesliga history behind Walter Bechtold in 1965.

Source: Sunderland Echo