Premier League trio Everton, Newcastle United and West Ham are keen on Moussa Niakhate with Mainz willing to sell the Bundesliga captain for £8 million in the summer transfer window, according to The Telegraph.
Everton’s interest in the colossal centre-back might have come a few weeks too late as far as Frank Lampard is concerned.
On Sunday afternoon, as The Toffees suffered a fifth successive away defeat, Michael Keane continued his personal annus horribilis with a second-half red card, one that scuppered any lingering hopes the visitors might have had of claiming a hard-earned point at West Ham and giving their survival prospects a timely shot in the arm.
Only four teams in the Premier League have conceded more goals than Everton in 2021/22. Newcastle United are one of those and, according to The Telegraph, the Magpies have identified Niakhate as a potential solution to their own defensive problems.
Is Moussa Niakhate heading to the Premier League?
A 6ft 3ins mountain of a man, Niakhate is the tough-tackling captain of a well-drilled Mainz side pushing for a European place under highly-rated head coach Bo Svensson.
Make no mistake, if Everton were as organised and as disciplined as Mainz, they would be nowhere near the bottom of the table.
Comparisons can certainly be drawn between the overachieving O5ers and this West Ham side. One who have been transformed from relegation-threatened ugly ducklings into Champions League-chasing swans during David Moyes’ second stint at the London Stadium.
According to The Telegraph, West Ham are another side with Niakhate on their summer wishlist.
Moyes admitted in the winter that he wanted defensive reinforcements. And it is understood that Niakhate – along with fellow Bundesliga stoppers Niklas Stark and Timo Hubers – has been identified as a potential replacement for the injured veteran Angelo Ogbonna.
West Ham could also opt to sell Issa Diop with just one year left on his contract.
Niakhate, a penalty-taking centre-half with six goals in the last two seasons, is available for £8 million. He, like Diop, will be a free-agent in the summer of 2023.
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“An absolute key player,” Svensson says of Niakhate.
“I have a lot of top guys and Moussa is one of them. As a player, as a person, he is very mature and very ambitious. He is always ready to help his fellow men. He feels very comfortable in the role of captain.”
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