TORINO have pulled out of a proposed deal for Didier Ndong after refusing to meet the Sunderland midfielder’s wage demands.

The Serie A club agreed a £6.6m deal with Sunderland officials last week, and had been hoping to wrap up a deal for Ndong before the weekend.

However, they refused to match the Gabon international’s current wage at the Stadium of Light, and instructed his representatives they would have to agree to a pay cut in order to secure a move to Italy.

Ndong refused, and Torino officials quickly moved on to an alternative target, wrapping up a deal for Atalanta’s Bryan Cristante instead.

That leaves Sunderland back at square one in terms of trying to move on Ndong, who signed a five-year contract when he made a club record £13.6m move to the Stadium of Light in the summer of 2016.

Ndong, who failed to impress during a loan spell at Watford in the second half of last season, was forced to take a 40 per cent wage cut when Sunderland were relegated from the Premier League last May, but it is still estimated that he is earning around £25,000-a-week on Wearside.

That is a mammoth salary for League One – there are no further wage deductions in the wake of last season’s relegation from the Championship - and means Ndong could still earn around £4m if he sees out the remaining three years of his contract on Wearside.

New Sunderland owner Stewart Donald insists the club can afford to honour all of their existing contracts, but there is clearly a desire to remove Ndong’s wages from the books this summer, along with those of Lamine Kone, Papy Djilobodji, Lee Cattermole and Wahbi Khazri.

However, this week’s developments with Torino underline just how difficult it will be to sell players who secured lucrative wage agreements during Sunderland’s time in the top-flight.

Torino finished ninth in Serie A last season, but still balked at Ndong’s wage demands. Atalanta and Amiens have also been linked with the defensive midfielder, but it is hard to see how either of those clubs will be able to finance a deal unless Ndong suddenly agrees to accept a substantial wage reduction.