Lorient’s vice-president has criticised Sunderland’s conduct after the Premier League side pulled out of a deal for Ivorian defender Lamine Koné.
Sunderland had a bid accepted for the 27-year-old at the end of last month and Koné appeared set to become Sam Allardyce’s first signing of the transfer window last week.
However, with Bayern Munich’s Jan Kirchhoff having been pictured at the club’s training ground on Wednesday as he arrived for a medical, Lorient vice-president Alex Hayes confirmed that the move for Koné is now off.
“It’s quite outrageous,” Hayes told French newspaper Le Télégramme. “We gave Sunderland our consent last Tuesday, Lamine left the next day to have contract talks, but the player warned us there were problems in negotiating his contract.
“Because of the holidays it dragged out until Monday. They tried to change the pre-agreed deal. Lamine called me to ask if he could return to Lorient and I told him with great pleasure.”
Koné missed last weekend’s cup victory over Tours and will not be available for this weekend’s Ligue 1 fixture against Rennes after missing training.
“Our defensive pillar was lost for the cup game against Tours and for the Rennes derby, for nothing,” said Hayes, who added that the club are now exploring legal options.
“It’s quite outrageous on the part of Sunderland who, meanwhile, have negotiated with a Bayern player.”
