The PSG defender is set to become Sunderland’s 12th signing of the summer after the Black Cats agreed a £9.5m plus £2.5m package with the Champions League winners.
The 27-year-old spent last season on loan in the Bundesliga with Bayer Leverkusen and is now set to link-up with his former teammate Granit Xhaka on Wearside.
The signing of Mukiele will be another boost for head coach Regis Le Bris, who confirmed yesterday Sunderland were still looking to strengthen in a number of areas, despite the influx of new recruits this summer.
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Mukiele, a France international, will bring top level experience, having played 35 league games for PSG after joining the club from RB Leipzig in 2022.
He played 15 Bundesliga games for Leverkusen last term, but missed the last month or so of the season through injury.
Providing there are no complications, Mukiele will become Sunderland’s fourth defensive signing of the summer after Reinildo, Arthur Masuaku and Omar Alderete.
The Black Cate are without Luke O’Nien, Dennis Cirkin, Aji Alese and Leo Hjelde for the first month of the season, and with Alderte having not featured much in pre-season for Getafe prior to his Sunderland move, Jenson Seelt is expected to partner Dan Ballard in the centre of defence against West Ham on Saturday, with Reinildo playing at left-back.
Once Alderete is up to speed and with Mukiele now coming in, Le Bris will have decisions to make on the likes of Seelt, Hjelde and potentially Alese to determine whether they’d benefit from loan moves this season.
Le Bris said this week: “I’m happy with the progression of Jenson. He played only one game last and maybe just five or 10 minutes at the end of another game. His pre-season was really positive.
“He’s still a young player and needs to reinforce his body to get adult maturity. He’s really talented, I like his style of play.
“But at the same time the Premier League is really challenging so we need to find the right balance between talented young players and experience, and the early games will help us find that balance.”
