Tunisia World Cup star Wahbi Khazri has left English club Sunderland for Ligue 1 Conforama's AS Saint-Etienne, the 27-year-old penning a four-year deal - for a reported fee of €10m - with Jean-Louis Gasset's side on Tuesday afternoon.
Fresh from his starring role at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia (two goals, two assists), Khazri made a definitive return to Ligue 1 Conforama by signing with AS Saint-Etienne on Tuesday.
New project
The wing wizard spent last season on loan from Sunderland AFC at Stade Rennais FC, bagging nine goals (two assists), but following his parent club's relegation from League One (D2), the Corsica-born 27-year-old opted to return to his homeland to be part of coach Jean-Louis Gasset's first full season in charge at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard.
Gasset, a former assistant to Laurent Blanc at a number of clubs including Paris Saint-Germain, took the reins at Saint-Etienne in January and immediately turned things around. Now looking to build on a seventh-placed finish - which saw them miss out on a European place to Bordeaux on goal difference alone - Gasset prioritised Khazri's signing in the close season.
New familiar face
The former SC Bastia and FC Girondins de Bordeaux forward is the club's third signing of the transfer window - but the first new face at the club - following the conversion of Mathieu Debuchy's loan from Arsenal to a definitive move and the extension of Kévin Monnet-Paquet's contract.
