Malick Fofana became an unlikely main character on Tuesday’s transfer deadline day. The 21-year-old Belgian winger left Lyon to join Sunderland for £30million ($41m), but only after one of the sagas of the summer.It involved a fleet of private jets, competing stories of simultaneous medicals, and a classic game of Premier League one-upmanship that ran throughout the day, while the player sat at home, playing computer games.Firstly, the footballer: Fofana has established himself as one of the most talented young forwards in France. He joined Lyon from Gent in 2024 and in the two seasons that followed, showed himself to be a dynamic, dangerous ball carrier and a versatile attacking weapon.Premier League interest naturally followed and Fofana, who has five international caps for Belgium but was not part of the recent World Cup squad, has been a regular in gossip columns for much of the past year.Malick Fofana has five caps for Belgium (Bruno Fahy/Belga Mag/AFP via Getty Images)On Tuesday morning, Fofana was headed for Sunderland.That made sense. The Belgian and French markets have been areas of focus for the club, particularly over the past 12 months. Before Fofana, Sunderland had already signed three players (Dayann Methalie, Thomas Meunier and Jules Ahoka) from those leagues this summer. This time last year, as the Black Cats prepared for their first season back in the Premier League, it was four.The five best transfers of the 2026 summer windowTim SpiersThe French market is a particular strength for them. Florent Ghisolfi, Sunderland’s sporting director, comes from Aubagne and previously worked for Nice. Margarita Louis-Dreyfus, mother of owner Kyril, owns a small stake in Ligue 1 side Marseille. The late Robert Louis-Dreyfus, Kyril’s father, once owned a stake in Royal Antwerp.