Denis Bouanga appears to have ruled out a £13 million move to Everton, telling Le10 Sport that he is ‘good’ and ‘under contract’ at St Etienne.
It looks set to be a rather tough summer for Les Verts.
William Saliba has already played his final game for the Ligue 1 outfit ahead of a long-awaited move to Arsenal and, amid reported interest from Leicester City, another teenage centre-half in the shape of Wesley Fofana could be following in his footsteps.
With Bouanga seemingly committing his future to the Rhone-based side, St Etienne supporters can at least sleep a little easier tonight.
“I try to climb the ladder each time and do better the following season. I read (the speculation) and it doesn’t affect me at all. It’s no use,” says Bouanga, who was named St Etienne’s Player of the Year after producing 12 goals and five assists from out wide.
“I’m still under contract with Saint-Etienne and I feel good here.”
This undoubtedly represents a major blow to Everton’s plans, given that they were apparently intent on bringing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s fellow Gabon international to Goodison Park.
BuzzSport claimed in June that the Toffees were willing to pay £13 million for Bouanga.
And, with Carlo Ancelotti’s increasingly insipid side looking short of any kind of creativity or unpredictability during a series of grim performances, a speedy winger with an impressive goal-scoring record would have been very well received on Merseyside.
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