Sunderland Face Major Dayann Methalie Transfer Decision As Toulouse Reject £28m Bid

After several weeks of transfer pursuit, Sunderland have had their latest offer of €33m/£28m for Toulouse left-back Dayann Methalie rejected by the Ligue 1 outfit.

Transfer insider Fabrizio Romano has reported that Toulouse "have rejected €33m package proposal" from the Black Cats, which would have constituted the French club's most expensive sale in their history, surpassing the fee which recently saw striker Emersonn move to Premier League new boys Ipswich Town.

Following the latest rejected bid, the Sunderland Echo report that the Stadium of Light hierarchy are continuing to push to sign the French youth international, and that talks remain ongoing between the two clubs regarding the fee and structure of the prospective transfer.

However, quite tellingly, Sunderland are now "actively pursuing other targets" in the left-back role amid their negotiation struggles with Toulouse, with the Premier League curtain-raiser at Ipswich less than two weeks away.

AC Milan and Juventus have been linked with Methalie amid the Black Cats' pursuit, but it is understood that Methalie has chosen Sunderland as his next footballing destination to continue his exciting development.

Given the latest transfer revelation, Sunderland now face a major transfer decision regarding Methalie.

Following the rejected £28m bid, it leaves Sunderland seemingly needing to increase their proposal to Toulouse to meet their ever-growing valuation of the 20-year-old defender, alter the payment structure of the deal, or walk away entirely.

Amid the drawn-out Methalie pursuit, Sunderland have been linked with Sassuolo left-back Josh Doig in recent days of the summer transfer window, who could offer the Black Cats a cheaper alternative as a left-back reinforcement.

However, given that French football expert Baptiste Reynaud exclusively told SunderlandRoundtable that Sunderland target Methalie is an extremely talented player, the Toulouse starlet would be the more exciting addition.

Perhaps, Sunderland have let it be known they are pursuing alternate targets at left-back to increase the pressure on Toulouse in the hope of finally getting the move over the line.

However, Sunderland's hierarchy showed this summer that they are very assured and defiant operators with Chelsea's ambitious pursuit of captain Granit Xhaka, and they clearly have the willpower to walk away from the negotiating table with Toulouse if they feel it is not in the financial best interests of the club.

Whether Sunderland meet Toulouse's increasing demands or walk away from the deal remains to be seen.

Yet, the changing of the goalposts from the French top flight side means that the Black Cats must be unequivocally sure that Methalie is their desired man if the asking price reaches north of £30m for a player with one full senior season of football to his name.