Fofana saga a 'treacherous' story to cover - Mokbel

[Getty Images] Malick Fofana's chaotic move to Sunderland was "a really difficult story to cover", says BBC Senior football correspondent Sami Mokbel. The Black Cats eventually beat Crystal Palace to the signing of the 21-year-old forward from Lyon in a deal worth £30m, after previous interest from Arsenal . "It was really a dramatic day and definitely one of the narratives of Deadline Day for sure," Mokbel told BBC Radio Newcastle. "With the flip-flopping, as a journalist I must say it was a really treacherous story to cover because obviously you never want to put false information out into the public domain and as journalists and correspondents we all have responsibilities to be as close to the truth and to be as accurate as possible. "But, we were accurate at the time of when we were reporting that Sunderland had agreed the deal and it looked like he was going there. Then obviously the Crystal Palace thing emerged and immediately those original stories about Sunderland - you're slightly concerned about have I gone too early with the story? "But, it quickly emerged that we were all kind of bang on the money with things and it was literally a case of him having a dilemma and choosing between the two. "It was a really difficult story to cover yesterday because one minute one thing was true and then the other minute something else was. "So, you had to be absolutely sure of your sourcing. "And it seemed like every single detail of that transfer was played out entirely on social media yesterday." Listen to the full chat below or on BBC Sounds