Everton open talks with Lyon over ex-Forest midfielder Mangala

This is a weird one as he only signed a permanent deal with Lyon in July.

We are definitely short in that area. Is this being driven by Textor?

Looks like being our first club to club deal with Lyon via Textor.

He's probably shite if Forest only just flogged him and now Lyon want to offload him.

Admittedly I've never heard of him!

Also, did he ever play for Forest? If not then he has no Premier League experience meaning Dyche won't play him anyway.

He was in Belgium's Euro squad so he can't be all that bad.

He played 47 times for Forest, so Lyndon states above

The Forest fans I know say he was great for them and describe him as a player who is hard to shake off the ball. He was sold for a combination of PSR and him wanting out, but the fans didn't want to lose him.

Forest fans seemed to like him. Solid defensive midfield player.

Forest also have Danilo and Sangare for that position - and I think Mangala spent a lot of time injured. Be interesting to know how many of his 47 appearances were as a sub.

Having missed out on Phillips and Cajuste to Ipswich, this is possible I suppose but it would be a weird deal with him only having just joined Lyon. And us seeming to have no money for new players.

Beggars can't be choosers, but he can't get in the Lyons team, who are bottom like us, Ipswich supposedly took the two midfielders we wanted, but we desperately need another midfielder, and hopefully Maupay out and a striker in, but we have to keep Calvert-Lewin, even if we're offered £20m now, staying in the Premiership is worth alot more.

Seems a very underwhelming signing on the face of it - A player Forest didn't want.

But looking at the deal more closely, it was Mangela who wanted to leave Forest by all accounts, and most of their fans rated him.

Lyon also paid £25 million for him with £10m being the initial loan fee. He's also had 19 caps for Belgium.

He could be a decent loan, but I'd be surprised if we activated the £33.5m fee Lyon supposedly want if the deal was made permanently. He's 26 years old. We need to get away from big fees for over 24's.

It’s panic stations, Gueye looks past it.

Ipswich are doing a Forest bringing in better quality, with no money upfront we're scraping the barrel.

That's the problem when we have the likes of Holgate and Keane as high earners who no one wants seeing out their contracts, and Doucoure on £130k as well.

Mangala Stats at Forest.

Joined 1st July 2022.
Total Games 53, goals 2, assists 1.
22-23 Games 31 games 1 goal, 1 assist.
DM Mainly. Also played CM, LM & AM.
23-24 Games 22 games, 1 goal.
DM Mainly. Also played CM.

Loaned to Lyon February 2024. Sold to them in July 2024.

Let's hope he's better than Eliaquim Mangala, that fella we loaned off City who played a couple of games for us

Decent player, though he’ll never be worth that buy option fee. Gives us Gana, Garner, Iro and Mangala in the middle (with Doucoure in a pinch) which should be enough.

Nuamah from Lyon and Trippier would help.

We need a striker ffs

Bobby (16), do we absolutely need a ‘striker’?Surely we can manage if three or four players are equally capable of finishing off a variety of chances per game.
Part of the problem in the first 2 games was not being able to work the ball through the middle and yet being alarmingly poor at preventing the opposition from pretty much walking through our midfield, especially from turnovers.
If a good enough striker isn’t available / doesn’t fancy us, then I’ll go with Plan B and improve the side elsewhere and hope altogether they form a hard to beat unit with the happy knack of sharing the goals out to a variety of players.

By far the most important requirement in the last few days of the transfer window is that Calvert-Lewin stays.

Beto's limitations were evident again tonight, whilst the absence on the bench of Maupay suggests that hopefully a deal with Marseille can be resurrected.

Iroegbunam, Ndiaye and O' Brien could prove to be very good signings (pity about Young and Harrison), but If Thelwell can get rid of Holgate and Mangala comes in, the window can be cautiously regarded as a successful one.

Bobby @16,

We need all sorts of players but can't afford them. Any striker that's a definite upgrade on Beto or Calvert-Lewin will likely cost upwards of £30M; which we don't have.

Best bet is probably the likes of Broja or Fofana on loan who may or may not improve us.

At right-back, however, we could make an upgrade pretty easily and Trippier (for example) would do that while offering cover for Mykolenko too.

Mate of mine is an Irish Forest fan and season ticket holder living in Liverpool (I know…). Anyway, he said that this guy is quality in defensive midfield and is great at winning the ball and carrying the ball forwards from defensive positions. At that point, he always elects to pass to a more creative player as he knows his limitations.

He said he's a very good defensive midfielder and they wanted him to stay but got good money. He also said don't expect goals or assists but that's not what we would be buying him for. He said it would be a very good signing and a no-brainer on loan.

I always prefer the opinion of someone who watches the player, week-in & week-out, so thought I'd share.

The Forest fans seemed genuinely upset when he left, and are generally positive about his time there.

A good loan, but I'd be surprised if we bought him – or could afford to buy him – next year.

Looks like most of the Lyon squad is up for sale as they try to raise another €75M before the window closes. Explains why he's available.

Link

I'm fearful with a few clubs circling that Calvert-Lewin bids will come in the next few days.

It's one thing taking a sensible offer (sensible only if we have lined up replacements, even on-loan replacements), we can't go forwards with just Beto and an injured Chermiti. That would be suicide.

We should be keeping Calvert-Lewin and adding another striker on loan. Goals are key, we don't score many, we need to supplement attack – not deplete it.

Bobby (16), we could sell Calvert-Lewin to Newcastle for £40M take Wilson in part-exchange and save somewhere around £50k a week in wages.

At 31 he's probably still better than Calvert-Lewin. Well, a better goalscorer anyway.

Pete (22) that's nuts, why spend all that money only to need to recoup it?
Has Textor told them he's selling up to concentrate on us I wonder?

Iain @24.

Calvert-Lewin to Newcastle for £40M? What are you smoking...??

He is in his last year of contract. If he had a 5-year contract, we still wouldn't get £40M.

Calum Wilson, for fuck's sake?

Check his injury record, say no more.

Some insights above suggest Mangala can both win the ball, and pass the ball forward accurately from a DM position. This being the case, the prospect of his playing alongside Tiny Tim, and nurturing his obvious talent in breaking up play and in the transition.

I am still a big fan of Gana though: I know he made a dreadful error in the Brighton game and was largely ineffective in the Spurs game, but in the run-in last season, he absolutely put himself on the line. I don't believe he is in sharp decline, he has just had a torrid start, it happens to the best players as well.

I can see a scenario where Gana is increasingly used as a sub, similarly, I think Doucoure will spend more time on the bench as Dyche assesses how best to manage the midfield. We desperately need to be better in moving the ball forward quickly and use the flanks more effectively.

My thoughts are that, unless we have future owner backing, we would rely on outgoings.

But then I believe it could be an initial loan deal with an option to sign next season?

Iain #24,

You mustn't have looked at Wilson's appearances for Newcastle in the last year, he's constantly injured, especially hamstring, that's why Howe wants to replace him, and no one will touch Wilson.

Christy,

I would have Wilson in a heartbeat. He scores goals when fit.

Last season, he scored 9 Premier League goals in 20 appearances (not starts); Calvert Lewin got 7 from 32. He's just a much better finisher.

When fit, he is a good player, but he often isn't.

Wilson missed all of Newcastle's pre-season matches as well as the first games of the season with a back issue.

He is now facing at least 2 months on the sidelines.

Christy, god job I didn't mention Jamal Lewis then aswell!!

Les 26, Newcastle signed Isak in his last year for over £60M having only scored 6 goals all season for Sociedad... I live in hope!

Brian 27, okay Wilson is now crocked, received & understood.

Si #36,

I would also have a fit Wilson, but for his injuries. He was lways a prolific goalscorer.

But I will say this, at Newcastle he had an attacking team from midfield, from the wings.

Even Haaland would suffer if he was at Everton.

True Christy. Anyone would struggle for us.

I've always liked Wilson though. When he went to Newcastle for £20M, I thought he was an absolute bargain.

Smodicz going to Ipswich for £6/7M is the one that got away for us.

Last season's top scorer in the Championship, he would have slotted straight in for us.

We always seem to have more than our fair share of ''sick note'' signings, so what is one more?

Having said that, Everton need more strength and back-up in midfield and with the financial constraints they can't be too choosy.

Hopefully if this goes through it proves worthwhile.

Smodicz scored a lot for Blackburn but he lacks pace. Be interesting to see how many he scores for Ipswich.

I personally think he will struggle at the top level.

This guy, as a cheap loan, would be good for us.

After all the talk previously about giving Beto and particularly Chermiti minutes then, if an offer for our non-scoring goalscorer comes in, grab their hands off.

Don't even stop to think about it. He has no intention of signing a new contract (if it is still on offer) and will, if nothing else happens, run his contract down. Drop him immediately as soon as the window closes.

Other than I read that it is a squad game these days, I do wonder why we need another midfielder when we don't seem to have a plan for those we have to play as a unit.

Sort out how and what we want them to play first and then possibly wonder why this manager who, I'm told, sees more of them than I do, instructs them to play as they are. Perhaps it's the word 'defensive' before his position that puts me off.

Very good point that makes a lot of sense, Alan J.

We definitely still need another midfielder because I don't think we are anywhere near to being physically strong enough in this very important position, mate.

I'm okay with this type of transfer — we are shopping in Dollar General.

We are getting relegated with the current squad, so anybody different coming in can't make us any worse.

If he's an out-and-out defensive midfielder, does that give Iroegbunam more licence to get forward? Having watched him a couple of times now, he gives the impression he can play in a more advanced role as well as offer something defensively.

It's good to have some options in midfield either way because we've been very easy to play through so far this season.

I think our midfield is shaping up to be half-decent – not world-beating but the new additions look promising. I'm not going to get over-excited by signings in August though based on pre-season and a Carabao Cup game against Doncaster - how many times have we fallen for a player who looks good in the first few months but turns out to be dreadful? Even Alex Nyarko looked good in pre-season when he signed.

If we keep Branthwaite and get Tarkowski back, then we look okay at centre-back. It's full-back and up front where we look way short. Ashley Young is a liability as demonstrated again in his brief cameo last night. We cannot keep relying on Seamus.

Is there any way we can offload Holgate, Keane and Maupay and bring in some reinforcements? There must be players in the lower leagues that would improve us. What do our scouts actually do apart from watch Premier League games and look at other teams' cast-offs?

Only 3 days left before the window shuts so at least all questions will be answered soon.

With Dixon, I'm more relaxed on the right-back front. His Spurs performance was really encouraging. I just hope he's ahead of Young in the pecking order there. I would still like Trippier but less panicked.

Branthwaite rumours have gone quiet so, if anything happens, it'll be 11th hour. Getting more hopeful he'll stay. Calvert-Lewin – I just don't think it'll be good for all if he stays tbh. Best for all sides if he goes now. Just not sure who'll get the goals..:: albeit wasn't like he was prolific anyways.

Media talk saying this is an obligation to buy for £32M, not an option.

If it's true, Everton should stay well clear. Crazy to commit to that kind of spend without seeing the guy play for the club.
Powers that be can't be that stupid… can they?

Reports suggesting Mangala is being looked at by Fiorentina - and other reports suggesting we're looking at Sofyan Amrabat who happens to play for... Fiorentina.

The plot thickens.

If Mangala is good in the DM role as some suggests, I see a similar cover in midfield like we had with McCarthy and Barry; in Iroegbunam and Mangala. That's a start to really strengthen the squad.

Looks like he's going Fiorentina.

It seems Fiorentina have come in late and sealed a deal according to Italian media, if so how was the deal not secured if he had his medical yesterday? If its true we're a total disgrace.

Christy #51

Because we can’t believe all rumours!!

Bobble has him having a medical today.

Can anyone explain the logic in the loan with a commitment to buy, in the case of Maupay?

How does it differ to Marseille then just buying him now? Is it just a season of only part-paying his wages which will then come down in his contract with them in nine months time?

Shane @ 53
I'm sure I read somewhere that for Everton to send Maupay out on loan they would have to extend his contract, which is why Everton were hoping to sell him rather than loan him out. I don't know how accurate the report I read was though. Perhaps, that's the reason for a commitment to buy rather than a pure loan?

I actually think Maupay could work with Beto upfront. The big man could hassle defenders freeing up space and the little man, (who can control a ball and shoot) could score us some goals.

Joe 55 it's the hope that kills you.

Kneel More Pay is off to Marseille. I'm driving him.

I've just read that Valencia are in for Holgate - hahahaha

Maupay gone. Mangala AWOL. Holgate TBD.

Atalanta trying to get rid of Godfrey. Do a swap with Holgate.

Kneel More Pay. hah.
Swap Holgate for Godfrey, haha.
Yall made my day.

Fabrizio saying Mangala in mid journey for a medical, straight loan no obligation to buy.