Fabrizio Romano confirmed the futures of Loïc Badé and Amine Adli, who had previously been linked with Sunderland.
Romano tweeted that Loïc Badé and Claudio Echeverri will have medicals at Bayer Leverkusen today. Badé has received a €29 million package, while Echeverri has secured a loan. Amine Adli will join Bournemouth.
Sunderland had been linked with Badé earlier this summer, with Spanish site El Chiringuito and French newspaper FootMercato reporting that the Black Cats and Bournemouth were “in pole position” for the Sevilla defender in recent weeks. Marseille and Villarreal were also keeping an eye on the situation, as was Aston Villa.
Badé, 25, has one cap for France and is under contract with Sevilla until 2029. He was valued at approximately £25 million. The centre-back was considered a potential target as Sunderland sought to improve their defensive options following promotion to the Premier League, but Leverkusen appears to have won the race.
Romano also stated that Amine Adli, another player Sunderland has been tracking this transfer window, will join Bournemouth instead. Sunderland, Wolves, and Marseille were all said to be interested in the 25-year-old winger earlier this summer, but the Cherries are said to have agreed on a deal for roughly £25.3 million.
Adli has been an important player for Leverkusen since coming from Toulouse in 2021, scoring 23 goals and providing 24 assists in 142 games. However, his playing time would have been limited with the £10.1 million signing of Ernest Poku from AZ Alkmaar and ongoing searches for further attacking reinforcements, notably Brighton’s Facundo Buonanotte and Monaco’s Maghnes Akliouche.
Sunderland’s focus has shifted to alternative targets as Régis Le Bris and sporting director Florent Ghisolfi continue to chase late-window reinforcements.
What did Régis Le Bris say after the Sunderland-West Ham game?
Head coach Régis Le Bris praised Sunderland’s players following their 3-0 victory over West Ham United, but emphasized that humility and unity must remain vital to their Premier League campaign.
The Black Cats returned to the top level in style on Saturday, with second-half goals from Eliezer Mayenda, Dan Ballard, and Wilson Isidor securing their first Premier League victory in more than eight years.
Le Bris was pleased with how his players responded to half-time instructions following a difficult first half and applauded their ability to carry out the game plan. He also claimed that captain Granit Xhaka addressed the group after the game to emphasise the significance of staying together.
“I’m happy for the fans and the players and the club,” Le Bris said on Monday. “We went through several phases of pre-season and discussed the layers we needed to add. It was evident that it begins with the fundamentals; we demonstrated that the team is working properly.
He continued, “They were difficult to beat in a mid to low block. The first half was more challenging, but in the second half, we believed we could create possibilities through regains in the midfield and score through counterattacks.
“We didn’t make many big changes at halftime. We discussed their goalie restarts and our high press; we went man for man, and they created two or three chances with long balls. So it was critical to be powerful in duels. We made only two or three small decisions, and they made a difference.”
Le Bris was also quick to point out that Sunderland’s three goals came from players who were already at the club the previous season, despite a busy summer of recruitment. “It’s really important for two reasons, they showed they can step up [first and foremost],” he told me.
“We’ll see later, but today this was the case. And this is critical because it preserves the club’s identity and the way we worked last season. We developed this strength by the way we operate together.
The players worked well together, and they demonstrated it again today. The Frenchman added that, while the opening-day triumph was a proud moment for everyone involved with the club, Sunderland would remain focused on the long season ahead.
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