Everton signed Eliaquim Mangala on loan from Premier League rivals Manchester City, after missing out on Lille centre-back Adama Soumaoro.
It is fair to say Eliaquim Mangala did not look like the saviour of Everton’s defence in his Toffees debut on Saturday.
Everton were battered 5-1 by Arsenal in the Manchester City loanee’s first appearance for the club, and he would have struggled to make a worst first impression if he had tried.
Mangala failed to cut out a cross that gifted Aaron Ramsey the first of a hat-trick at the Emirates, let Laurent Koscielny run free to the back post to nod in the second and then deflected in Ramsey’s long-ranger for 3-0, all within the opening 20 minutes.
It was the sort of clumsy, error-prone performance that saw the one-time £32 million centre-back quickly become a laughing stock at City following his 2014 arrival from Porto.
And, on the basis of those dreadful 90 minutes in North London, you can see why Everton only made their move for Mangala when the clock was ticking on deadline day, and after they had failed to sign their first-choice target.
Everton had been keen on the 25-year-old all month but, in the end, were forced to accept defeat after Lille, who are in danger of relegation from Ligue 1, refused to part with their key man while stuck in such a perilous position.
Now there is no guarantee that Soumaoro would have saved Everton from a hiding at Arsenal. But Mangala would not have been on the pitch to make those mistakes had Lille been willing to cash in.
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