Sunderland agrees to pay club record fee for Senegalese midfielder Habib Diarra from Strasbourg

21-year-old Senegalese midfielder Habib Diarra is set to join newly promoted English Premier League side Sunderland after the French side Strasbourg agreed to sell him.

The Black Cats are paying a club record fee of 30 million for the talented midfielder. The club considers him a direct replacement for Jobe Bellingham, whom they sold to Dortmund for 30 million pounds in the current transfer window.

The young midfielder was born in Guediawaye in Senegal but moved to France at a very young age, where he began his football career. The young midfielder moved to the Strasbourg academy in 2018 from Mulhouse. After three seasons in Strasbourg youth, he was promoted to Strasbourg B in 2021, from where he started playing for the main team.

Diarra is a box-to-box midfielder who is blessed with pace, power, stamina and passing.

Sunderland has already made a marquee signing after paying 20m pounds to AS Roma to make the loan deal for French midfielder Enzo Le Fee a permanent one. Sources say they expect the club to break Habib Diarra’s 30M pounds deal.