Sunderland face potential legal action and UEFA reprisals after the collapse of Lamine Kone’s £5million transfer from Lorient.

The French club are furious that having agreed terms on the transfer with Sunderland, Kone spent eight days on Wearside undergoing medical tests and discussing his contract before Sam Allardyce announced the deal was off last week and instead signed Jan Kirchhoff from Bayern Munich.

Lorient have lodged a formal complaint with the French FA which will be referred to the English FA and UEFA. They are also considering legal action as Sunderland gave no reason. The player has missed two games and not trained for three weeks because of the French winter break.

Lamine Kone (left) has been in Sunderland for eight days to discuss terms before the deal was pulled

Should the complaint be upheld, Sunderland face the prospect of punishment which could come as a fine, points deduction or even transfer embargo.

The case has similarities to when West Ham pulled out of a deal for Diafra Sakho from Metz in August 2014. The French club lodged a complaint and West Ham revived the transfer.

Kone, 26, travelled to Sunderland via Paris on December 29 and had a two-part medical over the following days. Discussions dragged on as Sunderland prepared for their fixtures against Liverpool and Aston Villa.

They then brought forward the signing of Bayern defender Kirchhoff and Allardyce revealed the move for Kone was off on Thursday.