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Malick Fofana is now a Sunderland player, but how exactly did the club pull off one of the most frantic deadline-day deals the Premier League has witnessed in years?

The Belgian forward will spend this season at the Stadium of Light, though it was not always certain that Fofana’s time at Lyon would end in this manner. When his former club pushed for UEFA Champions League qualification last season, the French top-flight side finished fourth, just missing out on the automatic qualification places.

Less than a week ago, Lyon lost their second-leg play-off match 1-2 to Super Lig side Fenerbahce, going down 2-3 on aggregate. Although Fofana scored what might have been a vital goal in the 61st minute, their exit from the competition was sealed by goals from Vedat Muriqi and Archie Brown.

As a result, as L’Equipe’s Hugo Guillemet wrote: “In the current context at Lyon, the bankers’ opinion carries more weight than that of the coach.” That brought an end to three-and-a-half years in France for the attacker — but how did Fofana end up at Sunderland when half the Premier League seemed to be at his door?

Yesterday morning, Fofana’s route to Sunderland looked straightforward, despite lingering questions over Mikel Arteta’s options on the left flank. A lively cameo from Eberechi Eze in Arsenal’s 1-0 away win over Aston Villa made the London club’s low offer for the Belgian appear more understandable.

Earlier in 2025, before Lyon were forced to cash in on Fofana after missing out on Champions League football, fellow Premier League heavyweights Chelsea and Liverpool had also hovered in the background. Neither move materialised, with the then 20-year-old valued at €50 million.

This summer, a similar storyline unfolded at first. Lyon asked for close to €40 million, but Arsenal were ultimately not prepared to spend that amount, even after selling Gabriel Martinelli to Saudi Arabia in late August. Once that move collapsed, Sunderland moved in and, for a short while, seemed best placed to turn the Ligue 1 talent into a Black Cat. Then Crystal Palace entered the picture.

The Eagles had already made contact with Lyon in an attempt to sign the winger after Fofana’s potential move to Arsenal fell through. Curiously, it was then reported that the 21-year-old did not want to join Crystal Palace, which made their later attempt to hijack Sunderland’s proposed deal even more dramatic.

With 10 hours left on deadline day, Fofana was somehow provisionally scheduled for a medical with the Eagles, with L’Equipe reporting that Palace had become his preferred destination.

Just an hour earlier, however, Fofana had been cleared to travel to Sunderland for another medical, according to transfer specialist David Ornstein, in a move worth around €35 million.

And less than 24 hours before that, while Arsenal were on their way to Villa Park, L’Equipe had reported that the Gunners were actually leading the Premier League chase for Fofana’s signature.

At 1:45pm BST on Tuesday, it emerged that the 21-year-old had spoken late in the morning to Pierre Sage and had been persuaded by the Eagles manager to join Crystal Palace on a five-year contract. The fee was put at €39 million including bonuses, while both Sunderland and Arsenal remained interested in the Belgian.

But Sunderland, who would eventually come out on top in the deadline-day scramble, then turned the situation around on Lyon by offering the player’s agents bigger commission payments and by matching Palace’s slightly higher transfer fee, according to reports that emerged shortly after 4pm BST.

Fofana then chose to cut off contact with the Eagles despite reportedly being on his way to London for a medical. Soon after, it was reported that the Belgian was waiting to board his flight while caught in the middle of a tug-of-war between two English clubs both desperate to beat the other to the deal.

So how did Palace respond? By using the same tactic: offering higher payments to the young player’s representatives. Perhaps the Eagles’ sporting director even put a Jay-Z track on an Instagram burner account story — nobody will know — but Fofana is represented by Roc Nation, and money is The Blueprint.

Then came a final late twist that felt absurd even by transfer-saga standards, including in the Ramy Abbas Issa era: Fofana actually completed a medical at Lyon… without knowing which club it was for.

By that stage, it was being reported that the 21-year-old still could not decide which Premier League move suited him best — despite many believing Sage held a late advantage because the terms on offer were similar and because he had previously managed Fofana at Lyon from 2023 to 2025.

In the end, it was the Belgian’s uncle, who works for Roc Nation, who stepped in and helped the player reach a decision. Romain Molina reported in the final stages of deadline day that an uncle known as “Bouba” stood to gain financially from his nephew’s choice and advised him to choose Sunderland.

That brought to a close one of the maddest deadline-day stories in Premier League history, with Sunderland emerging successful in a transfer worth more than €35 million including add-ons. Fofana’s contract is due to run until 2031, leaving him with plenty of Premier League years ahead.

His family and agents, who appeared to provide the Belgian with more direction than he gave himself during the process, will land a huge payday.

And Jay-Z, whose agency seemed short of cash throughout the entire saga, now apparently has the money needed for studio time — so perhaps another album is on the way soon... right, Mr Carter? What a day.