Record-breaking £13.6m Sunderland AFC transfer will forever haunt the club | OneFootball

Didier Ndong's move to Sunderland was arguably the worst deal in the club's history. The ripple effects are still being felt by both club and player.

Gabon international midfielder Didier Ndong arrived at the Stadium of Light in 2016, for a record-breaking £13.6 million. Whilst this record still stands, his time in the North-East certainly didn't reflect the fee the Mackems paid for his services.

Ndong spent the first four years of his senior career in Tunisia, with Club Sportif Sfaxien. He established himself as a first-team regular for the top-flight club, making 40 appearances throughout four seasons. This saw French Ligue 1 side Lorient snap the youngster up on a four-and-a-half-year contract. The then 20-year-old continued his rise to stardom in France, playing 48 times over his three seasons at Lorient. Eventually, Ndong was snapped up by Premier League club, Sunderland, for a club-record fee.

However, this move would be the beginning of the end for the exciting prospect, as he failed to live up to the price the Black Cats paid for him. Six years after his departure, Ndong is still considered one of the worst signings in Sunderland's history, but what went so wrong for the midfielder?

Ndong looked like a huge coup for Sunderland

The season before the Gabonese international arrived at the Stadium of Light, Sam Allardyce pulled off a miracle to keep the Black Cats in the Premier League. A six-game run without a defeat at the end of the season was enough to launch themselves out of the relegation zone, at the expense of fierce rivals, Newcastle United.

After such a scare, new manager David Moyes had to work hard in the summer to gear his squad up to comfortably avoid the drop. Plenty of Premier League-proven players came through the door, such as Stephen Pienaar, Adnan Januzaj, and Paddy McNair, who were signed to increase Sunderland's competitiveness. However, one signing would catch the eye in particular, after breaking the club's transfer record.

Energetic midfielder Ndong was Moyes' marquee signing in the summer of 2016. The £13.6 million paid for the Lorient midfielder smashed the record fee paid by Sunderland for a player. This record had stood for six years, which was held by striker, Asamoah Gyan, in 2010/11. From the outside looking in, this was a very exciting signing for the North-East club and showed that they weren't messing around when it came to survival.

At the age of just 22, Ndong had racked up 18 full international caps for his country, as well as a full season's worth of experience in one of the top-five leagues in Europe. With plenty of room to grow and develop still, there were high hopes that despite the hefty fee paid, the midfielder would go on to succeed on Wearside. Sadly though, this wouldn't be the case for the young hotshot, and his stint in the North of England would be a resounding failure for both club and player.

Everything went wrong for Sunderland and Ndong

The investment in the squad didn't pay off, as Sunderland slumped to last place in the Premier League, finally succumbing to relegation after years of flirting with the drop. Ndong featured 31 times in his first season in England, scoring a solitary goal. It was an appalling season for the Black Cats, and Moyes was quickly out of the door at the end of it.

Despite this setback, the club were once again busy in the summer, bringing across plenty of players who could help push for an instant return to the Premier League. The former Lorient man remained at the club in the Championship, as he believed that he could start shining once again. This wouldn't be the case though, and Ndong found himself on the chopping block in January. He returned to the Premiership with Watford but didn't even get a single sniff of an opportunity.

After playing no matches during his loan spell at Vicarage Road, the Gabon player returned to Sunderland, who'd just suffered a humiliating relegation to League One. Ndong, along with a lot of the current squad, had absolutely no intention of playing third-tier football. This ended up causing the club even more problems, as they had Premier League players on astronomical wages in League One. Due to his high wage and resale value, Sunderland tried to find a buyer for Ndong. Although a £6.6 million move to Torino failed to materialise.

However, the 24-year-old had other ideas. After failing to report for pre-season training, the Gabonese man refused to play in the third tier of English football. This eventually led to Sunderland sacking their record signing, after a buyer couldn't be found. The Mackems also took this action against defender Papy Djilobodji, who cost them £8 million, meaning the Black Cats had released over £21 million worth of players. Ndong made 54 appearances in the North-East, scoring just a single goal and four assists.

Sunderland and Ndong both suffered from tumultuous transfer

A small crumb of comfort for the Wearsiders was that they would receive a compensation fee for their former player when he found a new club. However, this was nowhere near repaying the £13.6 million Sunderland splashed on the midfielder just two years before the collapse of his relationship with the club.

Ndong returned to his home country following his sacking, where he was training with an unnamed club in Libreville. Just two months later, the midfielder made his return to professional football back in France with Guingamp. He then found consistent playing time for Dijon over the next two years, but a loan spell with Turkish side, Yeni Malatyaspor, was terminated early in 2021. The Gabonese player's attitude caused the collapse of his Sunderland gig, and it seemed that issue had reared its head again.

Ndong is currently playing in the Iranian Pro League, with Esteghlal FC. Now 30, it would be fair to say that his career hasn't lived up to expectations from when he was bursting onto the scene in France. The Sunderland debacle had a lasting impact on the midfielder's career, which he ultimately never recovered from. There would've been hope that by now, Ndong would've been a world-class player, but as often can be the case, he went down as a flop.

This transfer also showed the reckless approach to signings that eventually cost Sunderland years of frustration and pain. The club forked out huge fees on the wrong players, and Ndong isn't the only example of this. The Black Cats also paid the big bucks for players such as Jack Rodwell and Djilobodji, who both ended up leaving the club for free and in disgrace. Whilst the Mackems are finally on their way back towards the Premier League, this deal certainly contributed towards their fall from grace in the late 2010s.