Didier Ndong is joining Watford on loan until the end of the season, with Liverpool’s Ovie Ejaria set to be the first of several new signings on deadline day, Chris Coleman has confirmed.
The Black Cats boss also said he is close to agreeing a deal for Leeds United goalkeeper Andy Lonergan, is well on the way to another signing, and is also keen to add a fourth new face on transfer deadline day.
Sunderland knocked back a loan proposal for Ndong earlier this month but the Hornets have made a fresh bid for the Gabon international and the Wearsiders are set to receive a loan fee.
Liverpool player Ovie Ejaria and Sunderland's Didier Ndong (Image: Colin Lane/PA)
The agreement also includes clauses which could see the move converted into a permanent deal in the summer.
And Ndong’s departure has allowed Coleman to bring in 20-year-old Ejaria in his place.
Coleman said: “Didier Ndong is going to Watford. He’s made it clear he wants to be back in the Premier League, and the deal suited us in the end.
“There’s a possibility that it could become permanent, there are stipulations in the contract with game-time, but at the moment it is not a done deal that he won’t be coming back.
“We shouldn’t worry too much about losing him because we haven’t really had him all season due to certain issues.
Chris Coleman (Image: Getty Images Europe)
“We will be bringing one in to replace him, the boy from Liverpool Ovie Ejaria is coming to us until the end of the season, which I am very excited about. He’s a good player and a good addition to the squad.
“And there’s another one that is not quite there yet - there is still a bit of a way to go, so it’s tough for me to name names because it is not over the line.
“That said, hopefully over the next 24 hours, we need on top of that another face, too, with a bit of experience hopefully.
“It has been a brutal transfer window for us but, in 24 hours if we get another two or three, then it will have been a good one for us, also.”
With Ndong leaving, there is a small amount of money available to help Sunderland try to bring in a striker on loan, with Coleman adding: “We’ve tried to do loan deals with money, but there are one or two that we can’t because the price goes up and up and up.
Leeds goalkeeper Andy Lonergan (Image: Getty Images Europe)
“It hasn’t happened, but there are still one or two options on the table that we are trying to pursue.
“Whether or not we will get them, I don’t know, but we do need it - it’s obvious we need a bit more physicality.”
Read More
Leeds United manager Thomas Christiansen said tonight that goalkeeper Lonergan would be leaving Elland Road to join the Black Cats on a free transfer.
But while Christiansen suggested it was a done deal, Coleman says that move has not yet been finalised.
He said: “That’s not there yet. There are one or two things that we need to look at and discuss, so that’s not yet 100 per cent cemented.”