Revealing a couple of days ago they were doing everything in their power to convince Wahbi Khazri to stay at Rennes, the Ligue 1 side may have just managed to pull it off, according to L’Equipe.
The same newspaper previously reported the Tunisia international was very close to leaving Sunderland for Saint-Etienne, with the two sides ‘reaching an agreement’ for his transfer.
However, Rennes weren’t ready to give up and appear to have upped their offer for the Black Cats’ forward, presenting him with a €200k/month wage package.
This is described as being ‘vastly superior’ to what Saint-Etienne put in front of him, which L’Equipe believe could ‘completely change’ the dossier.
Sunderland know they need to rid Khazri off their wage bill and the 27-year-old is keen to leave the north of England, meaning he is expected to make his mind up ‘very quickly’.
Leading his national team at the World Cup in Russia, the Tunisian star was unable to stop his country from going out of the group stages despite scoring two goals and picking up two assists in three games.