Sunderland paid an initial £500,000 to sign West Ham defender Aji Alese.

It was confirmed yesterday that the 21-year-old had moved to Wearside on an initial three-year contract after an undisclosed fee was agreed with the Premier League side.

And, it has now been revealed by ExWHUemployee via his Patreon that the Black Cats have paid £500,000 up front for the centre-back, although there are add-ons that will be triggered once the player has made a certain amount of appearances in the future.

As well as that, the Hammers have put a 25% sell-on as part of the agreement, meaning they will pick up a quarter of the profit of whatever fee Alese is sold for in the future.

Bringing in Alese was seen as a smart move by Sunderland as he is very highly-rated but he has understandably found it hard to break into the first-team at the London Stadium with David Moyes' men pushing for Europe in recent years.

Alese will be competing with Bailey Wright, Dan Ballard and Danny Batth for a spot in the XI at Sunderland.

The verdict

This looks as though it's a good deal for all parties, as Sunderland have picked up a talented young player for what is a relatively modest fee.

However, whilst the initial offer isn't fantastic from the Hammers' perspective, they have covered themselves with the sell-on clause which could see them get more money down the line if Alese fulfils his potential.

Now, it's all down to the player to try and break into the first-team at the Stadium of Light and it will be interesting to see how he progresses over the years.

Thoughts? Let us know in the comments below.