Eliezer Mayenda reveals classy Kyril Louis-Dreyfus move that helped convince him on Sunderland switch

Eliezer Mayenda has opened up on the reasons behind his move to Sunderland, citing a phonecall from owner Kyril Louis-Dreyfus as key to his decision.

Mayenda has been one of the stars of the season as Sunderland secured a fourth-place finish in the Championship, setting up their play-off semi final against Coventry City on Friday night. The striker has given a wide-ranging interview with The Athletic discussing his career so far, including how he ended up making the move to Sunderland despite significant interest from Ligue 1 clubs.

After helping to convince Mayenda to make the move to Wearside, Louis-Dreyfus was waiting at the airport to greet the youngster when he arrived in the UK.

"My intention was to stay in Sochaux,” Mayenda told The Athletic.

"I’d played one season and I wanted to play a second season there. It was complicated. The club president told me: ‘Eli, we don’t have a choice, you have to go if we receive a good offer’. Sochaux were waiting for some clubs like Lyon, Marseille, Paris Saint-Germain, then I remember the Sunderland president Kyril, he called.

“When I saw the name Sunderland, I said to my dad that I didn’t want to go to the French First Division, I want to go to Sunderland.

“It was just my feeling, I can’t tell you why exactly, it was just a natural connection. Sunderland was special. I knew it was historic in England, it had been in the Premier League and everyone has seen the documentary on Netflix. When Kyril called Sochaux, my dad agreed with me.

"Stuart Harvey [head of recruitment] and Kyril gave me a big welcome."

Mayenda struggled to make an impact during his first campaign on Wearside but insists he never lost faith in the project.

“Last season was my first season and when I started training with my new team-mates I said to my dad, ‘We’ve a good a team here, we just need patience’,” Mayenda said.

“If we get patience, we can do something here, because these are good young players. I said it to supporters last season, ‘Patience. Let the players work, let the players work. The results will come’.”

Régis Le Bris reflects on Eliezer Mayenda’s progress at Sunderland

In his pre-match press conference ahead of the first leg against Coventry City, head coach Régis Le Bris praised the youngster for his impact this season.

“He got an unexpected opportunity,” Le Bris said.

“It’s rare when you work with your lineup at the start of the season and say: ‘This player will play 25 games, we can build a pathway for him’.

“More often, a player is in the squad but not really a starter. Then there is an injury and a player will seize this opportunity, because he is connected. He will say: ‘I’m here and I will show you’. The best players in the world are like that and Eli showed this quality. Even he didn’t expect this season.

“Now it’s a question of consistency.”

It remains to be seen whether Le Bris will select Mayenda or Wilson Isidor to lead the line from the start at Coventry City on Friday night.

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