Lyon slap hefty price tag on midfield starlet

As we reported a couple of days ago, young midfielder Tanguy Ndombele could be on the move soon and there’s a whole host of clubs at Olympique Lyonnais’ door for him.

Considering that Manchester City, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, and Liverpool in England, Barcelona and Juventus are among the sides linked, it’s pretty impressive that Everton have also been thrown in the mix.. but hey, the heart wants what the heart wants. And if Marco Silva wants Ndombele as Idrissa Gueye’s successor (and possible upgrade?), then you can imagine Marcel Brands will do his damnedest to get him in.

It won’t be easy however, as Spanish outlet Mundo Deportivo are claiming that Lyon want somewhere near the eye-watering sum of €70 million (about £62 million) for the 21-year-old. The Blues transfer record was set last season when Gylfi Sigurdsson came in for about £45 million, so this appears to be a difficult get for sure.

The paper goes on to say that no club is more interested in Ndombele than the Toffees, which in itself is very interesting, and they also add that it will make it quite difficult to sign Andre Gomes on a permanent transfer should the Blues win the Ndombele stakes.

There is no limit to Ndombele’s ceiling (scouting report here) who is already showing that he can be one of the best central defensive midfielders in the world in very short order, leading Pep Guardiola to comment on Lyon -

“Lyon are one of the best teams we’ve played against. Houssem Aouar is unbelievable and Ndombele is amazingly calm.”

Lyon beat City in the first leg of their Champions League group game, and then held them to a 2-2 draw a couple of days ago.

Gana is already 29 but has shown no signs of slowing down, and could still have another two or three years at the highest level in him. There has been plenty of interest in him over the last couple of years, with Arsenal and Paris St Germain at the top of the list. A big move for him could help Everton offset the cost of what it would take to bring in Ndombele, while still keeping Gomes on the radar.

UPDATE:

Silva’s former player Abdoulaye Doucoure at Watford FC has also been linked with the Blues in the past, and his name has popped up in recent days too. During his press conference today, Silva dismissed any links with him, saying -

“It is normal that rumours are starting again. We are doing our job behind the scenes.”