Jean-Philippe Gbamin has agreed a move to Russia with CSKA Moscow also looking at bringing in Nampalys Mendy from Everton’s Premier League rivals Leicester City, according to MetaRatings.
Between them, Gbamin and Mendy have played just over 200 minutes of club football all season long.
The former has endured another campaign ruined by niggling injury problems – hauled off at half-time during his only Premier League start against Wolverhampton Wanderers in November.
The latter, meanwhile, has fallen even further down Brendan Rodgers’ pecking order following the arrival of Boubakary Soumare from Lille.
Mendy admitted in November that he was holding out for a fresh start away from the King Power Stadium. The Senegal international, who was recently named in the Team of the Tournament at this year’s African Cup of Nations, saw a deadline-day move to Galatasaray fall through in August.
Six months on, could history be about to repeat itself?
Will Gbamin and Mendy leave the Premier League today?
It seems unlikely that CSKA Moscow will bring in both Gbamin and Mendy during the final few hours of the Russian transfer window.
Gbamin and Mendy are both defensive midfielders, after all, and it may be a case of ‘one or the other’.
Of the two Premier League forgotten men, Gbamin is a lot closer to the exit than Mendy at the time of writing.
The Ivorian’s agent admitted over the weekend that talks with CSKA were ‘ongoing’. And, according to MetaRatings, a deal with Everton has now been agreed.
Gbamin will jet out to Turkey on Monday, linking up with the rest of the CSKA squad during their warm weather training camp.
The £25 million midfielder will arrive on loan. It is believed that CSKA will not have an ‘option to buy’ clause in Gbamin’s contract. An indication, perhaps, that Everton still see a future for him at Goodison Park.
According to Sport24, Everton will pay a large portion of Gbamin’s £65,000-a-week wages during his time in the Russian capital.
Mendy, then, may have to wait for his contract to expire before he awakens from his Leicester nightmare.
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