Crystal Palace are on the verge of beating Sunderland in the race to sign Lyon’s Malick Fofana on deadline day.

That’s according to RMC Sport journalist Fabrice Hawkins, who took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to report about the Eagles and Sunderland.

Rapid developments in last few hours

Malick Fofana
Crystal Palace close to hijacking Malick Fofana from Sunderland’s clutches

Late on Monday, Arsenal took the lead after holding intense talks with his representatives, who also manage Gabriel Martinelli. Sunderland and Crystal Palace have also been in the mix.

Earlier today, Sport Witness covered a report from France explaining that the Black Cats reached a total agreement to sign the 21-year-old.

Sunderland have already agreed to pay €30m, and he was flying to England to complete the move.

Foot Mercato journalist Santi Aouna, who covered this report, then came up with a new development. He stated the UEFA Conference League winners are trying to snatch the forward from Sunderland’s clutches.

Crystal Palace rushing in for late signing

Fabrice Hawkins reports the latest twist in the Belgium international’s case and that will take him Selhurst Park.

The expectation was for the Lyon forward to end up at the Stadium of Light. Instead, he will join Crystal Palace, who have reached an agreement with the Ligue 1 side for a total package of €37m. This is most likely including bonuses.

Malick Fofana has changed his stance mainly because of Pierre Sage. He has had a chat with the manager, who has convinced him to join the Eagles. There’s no mention of the details of the personal terms.

The RMC Sport journalist adds the attacker is already in London, which shows that Crystal Palace are edging closer towards completing Fofana’s signing.

Sage’s side are now in the driving seat to secure his services, unless there’s a new twist in this case.

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