Sunderland new boy Lamine Kone impressed on his debut last night but he admitted he feared his dream move would never happen.
Sam Allardyce spent the most part of the transfer window pursuing Kone and the deal appeared to be on and off more times than a light switch.
The Wearsiders failed to land Kone at the beginning of the window despite the Ivorian arriving in England for talks. Kone’s former club Lorient were very upset at the time and demanded a points deduction for the Premier League club.
A tough beginning
Despite the difficulties surrounding the deal, Allardyce finally landed his man for a £5million fee.
Kone said he was relieved to finally be a Sunderland player, “I thought I would be staying at Lorient last week because the transfer at the start of the window had fallen through."
He added, "But then everything changed when Sunderland renewed their interest and eventually, it was a happy ending for me."
He admitted he was "very happy" to have joined, saying that "everything’s changed" and he is "adapting to that".
Koné also explained, "The French-speaking players here are helping me - Younes Kaboul, Yann M’Vila and Wahbi Khazri."
Unfortunate against City
Sunderland were unlucky to come away from last night’s game with Manchester City empty-handed.
But the Black Cats can take heart from their performance, particularly Kone. The centre-back put in a solid shift and kept Yaya Toure quiet all game.
The new boy nearly even grabbed an equaliser as he headed narrowly wide from a Jeremain Lens free-kick.
Sergio Aguero’s first-half goal was the only thing that separated the two sides.
Kone could have grabbed a vital goal
Kone said, “It was a shame that we didn’t get anything, because we played a good match."
He continued, "We could have been 2-1 up at half-time because we had some great chances and gave Manchester City some problems."
Kone had an excellent chance to score himself, but admitted he "didn’t make a good contact with my head".
He believes "it was unfortunate that [Sunderland] couldn’t score", because the side "deserved something from the game".
A new way of playing
The Ivorian says the Premier League is "completely different to the French League", describing Ligue 1 game "much more tactical" and the Premier League "box-to-box".
He believes it is "the best league in the world" and he had £a really good feeling for [his] first match, especially a team like Manchester City.
Sunderland travel to Anfield on Saturday and if they can repeat last night’s performance, they can easily get something from that game.
Kone is confident his side can start picking up points despite a tough run of fixtures, “There are tough matches coming up against Liverpool and Manchester United. We know they’re difficult."
He concluded, “But in England, anyone can win against anyone else. We think we can get three points from the next game.”