Nice coach Patrick Vieira has confirmed his interest in landing Morgan Schneiderlin from Everton this summer, telling L’Equipe that the France international is looking for a ‘new challenge’.
With just a year left on the contract of one of the most expensive signings of the Farhad Moshiri era, The Toffees may have little choice but to sell the a former Manchester United and Southampton ace on the cheap.
The Mail suggests that Nice could pay just £7 million to bring Schneiderlin back to his homeland.
That means Everton will make a huge loss on a player they signed for £24 million three years ago.
The deep-lying playmaker had managed to force his way into Carlo Ancelotti’s starting XI before the season was put on ice, but he looks likely to fall down the pecking order again when the likes of Jean Phillipe Gbamin, Andre Gomes and Fabian Delph are fully fit.
And, according to Vieira, Schneiderlin is looking to make a fresh start elsewhere with just 12 months remaining on his current deal at Goodison Park.
“He is a very interesting player, (and) he’s looking for a new challenge,” the former Arsenal captain explains.
Nice are not short of a penny or two these days, having been taken over by British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe last year.
A team who flirted with the Ligue 1 title during the Lucian Favre era have already bought three players for over £10 million since Ratcliffe arrived on the Riviera, including ex-Ajax striker Kasper Dolberg.
So Everton may be hoping to raise a little more than £7 million for Schneiderlin.
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