Sunderland boss Sam Allardyce is delighted with his deal for Lorient defender Lamine Kone.

The central defender travelled to Wearside in early January to undergo a medical and discuss personal terms.

But when no agreement was reached, Sunderland walked away from the deal and signed Jan Kirchhoff from Bayern Munich.

On Wednesday they returned with a £5m bid, and tied up the deal.

“He's a big lad and the smile on his face was massive on Wednesday night, when he finally got to grips with what has been a very, very difficult period for him," said Allardyce.

“It's been harder for him than us.

“We found it difficult negotiating the deal, but him to-ing and fro-ing must have found it terrible.

“He must have sat at home sometimes thinking, 'Are all my dreams going to be shattered?'

“He tells me this has been his dream for a long time, to play here in the Premier League. When somebody is talking about fulfilling his dreams, you get a good feeling about that."