Sunderland are on the verge of a huge appointment behind the scenes that will boost their transfer plans this summer
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Sunderland are close to appointing Roma's former sporting director Florent Ghisolfi (L) as director of football at the Stadium of Light.
Sunderland are closing in on the appointment of Florent Ghisolfi as the club's new director of football following promotion back to the Premier League.
As per various outlets, Chronicle Live understands the Black Cats have beaten a number of high profile European clubs to the appointment.
The Frenchman will work alongside current sporting director Kristjaan Speakman, who remains highly valued having helped guide Sunderland from League One back to the Premier League.
Ghisolfi, who oversaw transfers at AS Roma last season, helped the Serie A side finish in the top-five for the first time last season, missing out on Champions League qualification by just one point.
The 40-year-old left Roma earlier this week and a number of clubs in Saudi Arabia, Italy and Europe are said to have been keen on appointing him. Newcastle United, and Juventus are two of the clubs to have been named as admirers of the French transfer chief.
Ghisolfi's role at the Black Cats, should all go as planned, will be to strengthen the club's football operations following promotion back to the top flight.
His previous roles at RC Lens will play a particular important role, having helped win promotion from Ligue 2 before they later qualified for the Champions League.
He also worked at OGC Nice with Ineos between 2022 and 2024 where Francesco Farioli was keen to retain his services before Roma convinced him to move to the Serie A last summer.
It was during his stint in the Italian capital where he oversaw the transfer of current Sunderland playmaker Enzo Le Fee and is also well known to Regis Le Bris having spent some time coaching at Lorient earlier on in his career.
Ghisolfi looks on course to join the Black Cats in the coming days and the club hope his knowledge of the European transfer market will be a major boost to Sunderland's survival hopes this season.
The Wearsiders know they have to box smart in the current transfer window and unearth hidden gems as they have done throughout Kyril Louis-Dreyfus' Sunderland tenure.