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Sunderland have announced the signing of 21-year-old Belgian winger Malick Fofana from French side Lyon for a fee of £31 million. The young Belgian has signed a five-year contract with the Black Cats, but the deal was not finalised without its challenges. Sunderland's Director of Football Florent Ghisolfi raved about Fofana's signing on the official club website. "Malick has all the attributes to thrive in the Premier League. "He is a player with huge potential and Sunderland AFC will provide him with the right environment to continue to develop and prosper. "He operates off the left and will complement the versatility of the other wide men we have at the club, who can play across both flanks. "We are delighted to welcome Malick to the club and look forward to supporting him as he takes the next steps in his career." The Most Chaotic Deadline Day Saga Ever? Premier League interest in Fofana originated from defending champions Arsenal. However, the Gunners opted not to match Lyon's asking price of approximately £30 million. That was when transfer guru David Ornstein of The Athletic broke the news that Sunderland had matched the asking price for the Belgian international, and a deal was in the works to put pen to paper. The Black Cats had a medical booked, and all looked set to progress as normal. But that was when Crystal Palace swooped in to steal Fofana's signature from right under Kyril Louis-Dreyfus' nose. They slapped a £33.5 million offer on the desk of the Lyon board, and they gladly accepted the higher offer. After a conversation with Crystal Palace head coach Pierre Sage, the promising youngster had his head turned, and Sunderland had to resubmit a new offer to the parent club and player to rescue any hope of a deal being finalised. Fofana and his entourage from Roc Nation went to Lyon Airport faced with a choice: catch a plane to Newcastle Airport and join Sunderland, or get on the jet headed for London and sign for Palace. Although both jets were booked with the hope of bringing the young winger to England to have his medical, Fofana opted for neither in the end. Although Fofana had initially chosen to get on the plane to London and complete his move to Selhurst Park, a monumental U-turn left Palace officials in the dark on his whereabouts and opened the door back up to a Sunderland move. The Wearside outfit matched the offer given to Lyon by Crystal Palace, but also improved the commission package given to the Belgian's agents. That was enough to get the deal back on track. Top officials in the Sunderland camp told Sky Sports reporter Keith Downie that they were "70-30" on the probability of signing the tricky winger. Sudden Lukebakio interest There was still some uncertainty among the camp, and Sunderland started to explore a move for Benfica's Dodi Lukebakio in case the deal fell through. The Lukebakio deal fell through when it was confirmed that he would stay with the Portuguese giants, and the Wearsiders had all of their eggs firmly in the Fofana basket. Sunderland had decided that the tug of war between themselves and the Eagles made it too risky to stick the Belgian on a jet to Wearside, so they opted to carry out the medical in a private hospital in Lyon. Sunderland wanted Fofana's signature so desperately that owner Louis-Dreyfus personally flew out to Lyon to meet with the player and his representatives and convince them to choose to sign for his side. Although the deal was looking more likely to go in Sunderland's favour as the day went on, the club could not trust that they had their man until the window closed at 11 pm. It was only a couple of hours to go until the end of the summer transfer window, when after a full day of back and forth with Crystal Palace, Fofana finally gave Sunderland the green light to send off a deal sheet. Louis-Dreyfus stayed by the winger's side and oversaw the deal to make sure all went to plan, not taking any chances after being put through the wringer multiple times throughout the day. This would give the club an extra couple of hours after the window closed to fully finalise all of the paperwork and claim the Belgian as Sunderland's fifth signing of the summer, and the second of three incomings on deadline day. The club also signed Tottenham Hotspur centre-back Kevin Danso on a loan deal with an obligation to buy at £22 million. The Black Cats also announced a surprise £5 million deal after Fofana seemed to be the final incoming on deadline day. 18-year-old Ecuadorian wonderkid Juan Riquelme Angulo joined Sunderland from Independiente on a five-year deal, after he was linked with Manchester United and Barcelona.