Sunderland held talks before £17m Diomande switch, agent reveals | OneFootball

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

Wolfgang Meier made the remarks in an interview with Sky Sports. The 19-year-old joined Leipzig from Leganes last summer after the Bundesliga club triggered his €20million, around £17million, release clause.

“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. However, they indicated to me that they preferred to sign someone with more experience.”

“I was surprised that Bayer Leverkusen didn’t even consider him, as in my opinion, he would have been the ideal fit for the club. Instead, they opted for Ben Seghir from Monaco.”

Leipzig handed Diomande a five-year deal, and he scored his first for the club in the DFB-Pokal against SV Sandhausen, then opened his Bundesliga account in a 6-0 win at Augsburg. He later 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