Sunderland coach Steve Bruce always had Asamoah Gyan in mind to partner Darren Bent this season – but he feared he would lose out on his top target to Turkish side Fenerbache.
The Champions League side were preparing a massive offer, which would have dwarfed Sunderland's £13m bid, but their surprise exit from Europe's elite competition in the qualifying stages forced a rethink and the Black Cats were able to push home their interest.
Bruce admitted: "It was a bit nervy for a while because the Fenerbache interest came out of the blue and would have been a real problem for us.
"Even when that did not come off, we still had to ask the owner to break the transfer record to get the lad, and I've got to pay full credit to him for that because we weren't in an ideal negotiating position.
"Normally we can wheel and deal a bit but that wasn't really an option for us this time – we had a week until the window closed and Fraizer Campbell had just been badly injured and sidelined for six months.
"Rennes knew that, and so it really did become a seller's market," added Bruce.
"But whatever the price tag, I'm absolutely delighted to have got him because he was the lad I was after all along."
Bruce and his assistant Eric Black have been keeping track of the 24-year-old for the past three years and had looked at signing him last year.
"He was definitely our top target," said Bruce.
"I wanted to make an improvement and now with the two strikers we have and the wheeling and dealing we have done, we are in a better position.
"Gyan has that fire in his belly, he's a wonderful athlete and he's got a great attitude.
"I think he'll do well here at Sunderland and I'm looking forward to him fitting into the side and improving it."