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Toulouse youngster Dayann Methalie has been convinced to join Sunderland over AC Milan, believing that the Black Cats offer better prospects for his ambitions with France. L’Equipe cover the situation today amid reports that Sunderland are closing in on a deal for the 20-year-old left-back. Sunderland need €30m Sport Witness covered their growing efforts yesterday, and L’Equipe pick up on it today. the newspaper report that Toulouse are on the verge of a major success as they eye a record-breaking deal for the youngster. They already broke the record selling Emersonn to Ipswich Town earlier this month but now want to break it again with a €30m plus deal. Sunderland are yet to hit that figure, with their latest reaching €25m plus bonuses. That was the latest in several, all of which have been rejected. The Black Cats are convinced by the French U21 international and have been pushing for several weeks. But they need to increase their offer to get him. They already have an agreement on a five-year deal with the player in place. Methalie convinced Their efforts have been encouraged by Methalie, who changed agents at the beginning of the summer. This was interpreted as a way to access more markets, particularly abroad. Toulouse then countered this by hiring their own agent, who then brought an offer from AC Milan. But Methalie is convinced about joining Sunderland. The prospects of working in a French speaking environment under Régis Le Bris as coach and Florent Ghisolfi appears to have convinced him on the move to the Stadium of Light. He also believes that the prospect of playing regularly in the Premier League – a highly competitive league – is a ‘necessary prerequisite to get into the French national team. That is what he aspires to achieve and believes Sunderland give him the best chance to do so. He will be forced to wait for a deal to be finalised between the two clubs. For now, Sunderland are at least €5m short of Toulouse’s asking price.