French club hit stumbling block in pursuit of Sunderland defender

The French club were keen to sign the Senegalese centre back on a permanent deal after he enjoyed a successful loan spell in France this season.

But any potential move looks to have hit a stumbling block with Dijon's president admitting that the Ligue 1 side will struggle to afford Djilobodji's wages.

Formerly of Chelsea, Djilobodji's wages have been quoted at €180,000 per month, which roughly equates to £40,000 per week.

And the defender has made no secret of his desire to leave the Stadium of Light this summer following the Black Cats' relegation to League One.

But a permanent move to Dijon - a club whose average attendance is little over 12,000 in the top flight of French football - looks unlikely as the club would find such wages hard to justify.

Reports from L'Equipe suggest that Dijon paid just a third of Djilobodji's salary last year, and their president admitted his salary would deem him 'inaccessible'.

Speaking to L'Equipe, Olivier Delcourt said: “He has an English salary, so is inaccessible for us.”