Friday 5 August 2016 22:24, UK
New Sunderland boss David Moyes has made his first signing, landing centre-back Papy Djilobodji from Chelsea for £8m.
The 27-year-old Senegal international can also play as a defensive midfielder and he has signed a four-year contract.
Djilobodji joined Chelsea from Nantes last summer but did not feature much for the Blues, his one appearance coming in added time at the end of a Capital One Cup win at Walsall.
But, having joined Werder Bremen on loan in January, he played regularly for the Bundesliga side and scored a late winner against Eintracht Frankfurt in the final game of the season to save Bremen from the drop.
Djilobodji began his career in Senegal with ASC Saloum before joining French club US Senart-Moissy in October 2009.
He moved on to Nantes in 2010 and went on to make 171 appearances, scoring nine times, before joining Chelsea for a reported £2.7m.
And, despite his minimal impact at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea have trebled their money on a player who has been capped 13 times by Senegal and appeared at the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations.
He said: "I'm so happy to join Sunderland, I believe we are going to do something this year. Sunderland Football Club is a big club, a big team, with big fans.
"We are going to do our best to give the fans what they deserve. The coach called me on Thursday and I was so happy, we are going to work to improve."