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Exclusive:Sunderland beat Newcastle United and AS Roma to £25.7m deal in major Florent Ghisolfi transfer win Sunderland have beaten competition from Newcastle United and Roma to land Dayann Methalie in a major transfer coup for Florent Ghisolfi Sunderland sporting director Florent Ghisolfi fended off competition from Newcastle United and AS Roma to win the race for Dayann Methalie, sources have confirmed to The Echo. The Black Cats have agreed a £25.7million deal with Toulouse for the highly-rated 20-year-old left-back, who is expected on Wearside to undergo a medical and complete the remaining formalities of his move. The Echo understands Newcastle and Roma both showed serious interest in Methalie during the summer, but Sunderland convinced the France youth international that the project at the Academy of Light was the right next step for his development. Methalie was particularly sold on the pathway available to young players, Sunderland's recent progress under Régis Le Bris and the opportunity to play both Premier League and Europa League football. That represents a significant transfer victory for Ghisolfi, who has driven the pursuit throughout a long and difficult negotiation with Toulouse. Sunderland saw multiple offers rejected before eventually finding agreement on a package worth £24million guaranteed plus another £1.7million in add-ons. The club also made clear during negotiations that they were prepared to consider alternative left-back targets rather than continually increase their offer, a stance which helped bring the two sides back together. With Newcastle and Roma interested, Sunderland still had to win the player over as well as Toulouse. They appear to have done exactly that, with Methalie choosing Wearside and the Academy of Light project ahead of two rivals. For Ghisolfi, it is another significant statement of Sunderland's growing pulling power.