Have Sunderland fans turned on Malick Fofana? Record transfer may have gone sour already
Malick Fofana has a lot of pressure to live up to Sunderland.
Signed from Lyon for just over £30million, he instantly became a record signing at the Stadium of Light.
The deadline day arrival wasn't without its drama either, with Crystal Palace looking to hijack the move constantly.
From a medical completed in France, to two jets booked by each Premier League club, he eventually chose Sunderland.
He wasn't pictured until after the deadline, and the winger has taken his time to really get going with the Black Cats.
But, is he doing enough?
How has Malick Fofana performed?
The Belgian winger completed his first full 90 minutes for the Mackems on Thursday against Lech Poznan.
After a sharp first half in the Europa League, things went from bad to worse in the second period.
Leaving Poland with a 1-1 draw isn't the worst result in the world, but fans were somewhat disappointed.
Fofana didn't help matters either, with the ex-Lyon man leaving more questions than answers for Regis Le Bris.
Hitting the post in the first half, he could have had his first goal - something that will no doubt relax him.
But, taking six shots for an expected goals total of 0.54 is nowhere near enough from those chances.
Carrying the ball for over 200 metres in Poland with only two unsuccessful touches, it's about turning that into real opportunities consistently.
How did Sunderland fans react?
In truth, not very well.
Sunderland fans were all over social media during and after the game, and many can't believe how Fofana has cost over £30m.
Mackem News has picked out some of the reactions below.
Every player with this type of pricetag will face stricter criticism, that is just how football works.
It's over to Fofana to prove them wrong, and he can only do that by getting on the pitch and making a real difference.
Le Bris doesn't exactly have the biggest squad in the world, so you'd have expected the Belgian to take that opportunity and make that spot his own.
He just hasn't done that.
Yes, he's young, but when you cause as much drama as he did during the whole deadline day saga, you've got to back that up on the pitch.
He's not doing that, while players like Nilson Angulo definitely are.
The fact that Fofana played the entire game while players like Granit Xhaka and Nordi Mukiele were taken off after an hour, proves that he won't start against Leeds on Sunday either.
If he wants to make a name for himself, he needs to do that on the pitch, starting with the Stadium of Light this weekend should he get on.
Let's hope this one hasn't gone sour already, but Fofana needs to give something back to these loyal fans very soon.