The Black Cats will pay an initial fee of around €31.5m for Diarra, a 21-year-old Senegal international who scored in his nation’s shock win over England at the City Ground earlier this month.
Sunderland’s recruitment team, led by sporting director Kristjaan Speakman, have also agreed a series of add-ons that could potentially be worth another €4m, with Diarra set to sign a five-year contract on Wearside.
The midfielder is understood to have completed a medical in Paris before travelling to England over the weekend. He is expected to tie up the remaining loose ends of his transfer at the Academy of Light later today before being formally confirmed as Sunderland’s second signing of what is set to be an extremely busy summer. The club’s first arrival, Enzo Le Fee, set a new club record of his own when he completed his permanent move from Roma in the wake of last month’s promotion back to the Premier League.
Diarra has been signed as an attacking-midfield replacement for Jobe Bellingham, who joined Borussia Dortmund in a deal worth more than £30m earlier this month.
Sunderland have beaten off strong competition in order to sign Diarra, with Leeds United having had a £25m bid of their own rejected by Strasbourg earlier this summer. Brighton and Everton also held discussions over the Senegal international, who boasts 11 senior caps, but Sunderland’s decisiveness has seen them push through a deal ahead of their Premier League rivals.
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Born in Senegal, Diarra moved to France to join the youth ranks of Mulhouse before signing his first professional terms with Strasbourg in the summer of 2021. He made his senior debut the following October, and has made 92 Ligue 1 appearances for a Strasbourg side that finished seventh in the French top-flight last season under English head coach Liam Rosenior.
Despite Diarra only turning 21 in January, Rosenior made him his club captain, such was his respect for both the player’s ability and the strength of his character.
“Habib is getting better and better and better,” said Rosenior, earlier this year. “And stronger and stronger and stronger in his understanding of the game and his fitness.
“I love Habib because he can be Mr. Angry sometimes, and he likes to have confrontations. He’s a winner – that’s why I made him captain. And he’s doing the club proud.
“He’s a good kid with a lot of potential and I’m delighted to be working with him. He’s a really, really positive thing in our season.”
Sunderland have also held advanced talks over deals for Polish international goalkeeper Marcin Bulka and Ukrainian forward Vladyslav Vanat.
They are willing to pay around £18m to Nice for Bulka, a 25-year-old shot-stopper who has won five senior caps with the Polish national side.
Bulka, who actually started his career in the youth ranks at Chelsea, joined Nice from Paris St Germain in the summer of 2021 and has made 89 senior appearances for the Ligue 1 side.
Nice’s former sporting director, Florent Ghisolfi, is set to join Sunderland’s executive team in a senior role alongside Speakman, with his arrival set to be confirmed next month. Ghisolfi will work alongside Speakman in a prominent recruitment role this summer.
Speakman has been involved in the ongoing talks over Vanat, who recently represented Ukraine at the European Under-21 Championships in Slovakia. Vanat’s current employers, Dynamo Kyiv, are preparing for the qualifying rounds of the Champions League, which is making Sunderland’s attempts to sign the 23-year-old at this stage of the summer more complicated.
However, there is still confidence that a deal can be agreed for Vanat, who is valued at around €20m by his current employers.
