Habib Diarra: Club ‘willing to spend a small amount’ for Sunderland player

Sunderland

SunderlandHabib Diarra has impressed in his first season in the Premier League.

The Senegal international arrived at the Stadium of Light from RC Strasbourg in July 2025 and it took him no time to settle in.

There was interest from AC Milan and Atletico Madrid and Diarra revealed in December Rejected both of these clubs For Sunderland.

Regis Le Bris started in Sunderland’s first four league matches before suffering an injury.

Due to a back injury in September, he had to stay out of the field for about three months. He returned to the field with the Black Cats just before the AFCON and represented his country in the continental tournament.

Since returning to Sunderland from the AFCON, he regained his place in Le Bris’ starting eleven and has been a regular since.

His Premier League statistics are as follows:

  • Appearances: 14
  • Start: 12
  • Total minutes played: 1,102
  • Minutes per game: 79

Saudi Arabia’s interest in Sunderland star

Habib Diarra’s performances for both the English club and national team have clearly not gone unnoticed.

is according to media footWhich covers what could happen with his Sunderland future after this season.

His performances have attracted the attention of clubs in Europe and beyond. The report says that the most interest is in the Saudi Arabian market. An unnamed club from that country has stepped forward to secure his services in the summer.

In fact, the Sunderland star has been made his priority target. The same club are ‘willing to spend a small sum’ to take him away from Regis Le Bris.

There is no mention of the fee the Saudi side is willing to spend, or the fee required to convince the Black Cats. Media Foot clarified that the operation is still in its early stages and the Saudi club has only made initial contact.

Habib Diarra contract, price and agent information

Carmenta, the agency headed by Joseph Mohan, represents Senegal.

Sunderland invested over €30m to secure the services of Habib Diarra and offered him a contract until 2030. transfer market He is now valued at €32 million, an increase of €12 million since his move to England.

The Black Cats’ stance on their star remains unclear. Should they decide to sell, they will try to make a bigger profit.

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Report reveals surprising amount spent by NFL teams during first week of 2026 free agency

We’re just into the first week of free agency and the league has already spent $1 billion. There’s never been a better time to hit the open market in the NFL. The second week of March marks the start of a new league year, and with it comes the annual free-agency frenzy – when front offices wheel and deal, and players cash in.

For years, the league believed that extravagance in free agency rarely resulted in Super Bowl contention. But this offseason? That script has been flipped. With multiple star players hitting the market and massive deals being struck in a matter of days, the spending spree has been unlike anything the NFL typically sees.

Now, an analyst has revealed just how staggering the league’s free-agency spending has been this early in the offseason.

NFL free agency begins a billion-dollar spending spree

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According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, money is flying through the league at a historic pace. Since Monday, NFL teams have paid out a record $5.83 billion in total player compensation, including $2.59 billion guaranteed at signing.

That’s a big jump from last year’s opening week numbers, when teams spent a combined $4.88 billion with $2.19 billion guaranteed during the same period.

A big reason for the spending spree? The league’s ever-expanding salary cap, which increased by $22 million this year, goes from $279.2 million in 2025 to $301.2 million in 2026. This growth is largely fueled by the NFL’s massive 11-year, $110 billion media rights deal with Amazon, CBS, ESPN, Fox and NBC.

The cap has been rising steadily in recent seasons, but the 2026 increase opens up a new level of pay for players across the league. So far this offseason, eight players have either reset the market at their position or received the richest free-agent deal ever for their role in terms of average annual value.

Among the deals that made headlines:

  • CB Trent McDuffie – Traded to and signed by the Chiefs rams For 4 years, $124 million
  • Of trey hendrickson – Signed by crows For 4 years, $112 million
  • LT Laremy Tunsil – Re-signed by commanders on one 2-year, $60.2 million extension
  • edge jalen phillips – Signed by panthers For 4 years, $120 million
  • WR Alec Pierce – Re-signed by colts For 4 years, $114 million
  • C Tyler Linderbaum – Signed by raiders For 3 years, $81 million
  • RB Kenneth Walker III – Signed by Chiefs For 3 years, $43.05 million
  • Te Isaiah possibly – Signed by veteran For 3 years, $40 million
  • P Jordan Stout – Signed by veteran For 3 years, $12.3 million

McDuffie, Tunsil, Linderbaum and Stout all became the highest-paid players at their respective positions, while Phillips, Pierce, Walker and Likely set new records for free-agent contracts at their positions.

And the spending started rapidly. According to NFL Research, between the opening of the legal tampering window and Monday night at 8 p.m. ET, teams had already given away contracts worth $2.3 billion.

For years, the league’s conventional wisdom has suggested that players are better off signing extensions with the teams that drafted them, as franchises were historically cautious about spending more in free agency. But with the salary cap continuing to skyrocket, being patient may be the better play now on the open market.

Just look at the Tennessee Titans, who led the league by giving away $293.2 million in free agency to draft No. 1 overall pick Cam Ward in 2025. The Las Vegas Raiders were not far behind, spending $281.57 million as they prepared to draft Indiana Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza with the top pick in April.

One phrase agents have been throwing around this offseason is “biggest average per year by a free agent.” It’s a clever way of marketing — adding “by a free agent” helps differentiate those deals from the bigger contracts players often get via extensions, giving new signings a little extra sparkle.

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