Ghana defender John Mensah expects to re-sign for Sunderland on a season-long loan by the middle of next week.
The centre-back has agreed terms with the Black Cats and is now waiting for the Wearsiders to thrash out a deal with Lyon before the French club’s Friday deadline.
Although there is still some work to be done on the size of the loan fee, both parties appear to be confident that Mensah will be back at the Stadium of Light – maybe even in time to play some part in the Hoffenheim friendly next week.
His agent, Fabien Pivateau stressed that there is still work, to be done but he believes a deal is moving closer.
“Next week is the deadline for the deal to go through,†Pivateau told The Journal. “There are negotiations going on at the moment -John has already agreed a deal with Sunderland and there is an agreement in place between the club and player.
“There are other teams who are interested but with Sunderland, everything is arranged and John is happy with that. He always said he wanted to go back to England with Sunderland. Now Lyon and Sunderland need to find an agreement – but I think that is close. I think it could be announced and everything will be finalised by the middle of next week.â€