Sunderland have made an uncharacteristic transfer 'swoop' to land French midfield behemoth Alfed N'Diaye.

There was no long and protracted chase littered with claims and counter claims like we have often seen in the past. The player has gone from none of us having a clue who he is, through all of us being desperate to sign him, to actually being a Sunderland player, all in the space of a few days.

Martin O'Neill has reportedly agreed to pay Turkish club Bursaspor a fee of €4.7m for the 22-year-old former Nancy man - around £3.2m - although the official figure is undisclosed. The player himself has signed a 3-and-a-half deal.

What kind of player are we getting? Well we are not huge fans of the Turkish Super Lig ourselves, but we know one of two who are and they assure us N'Diaye is a big, strong, mobile enforcer, who generally stomps around menacingly imparting his will upon the little people.

Sounds ideal. Lets hope he lives up to that billing!In a refreshing change to the transfer sagas of the summer, Sunderland have managed to wrap up their first January signing in what seems like double-quick time.