It’s funny what 24 hours of good news can do to a football club. Even Everton – where gloom tends to gather like dark clouds on a winters night on Merseyside – have something to smile about today.
A first win of the season – albeit against fourth-tier Doncaster Rovers in the Carabao Cup – and three goals to boot.
A wonderful first effort in Everton colours from Iliman Ndiaye, a swaggering Tim Iroegbunam performance, and impressive showings from fellow new arrivals Jake O’Brien and Jesper Lindstrom.
Sean Dyche was equally delighted to see Seamus Coleman and James Garner step up their returns from injury too, labelling the duo ‘different class’ as The Toffees’ quality shone through during a cobweb-clearing second-half at Goodison Park.
And while those old fears still linger in the background – no Premier League points on the board and barely two pennies to rub together for new arrivals – the prospective takeover from American businessman John Textor offers Everton more than a route out of their current state of limbo.
Everton eye Lyon midfielder Orel Mangala
HITC understands that Textor – who must sell his shares in Crystal Palace before completing his takeover of Everton – has lined up a deal that would see Orel Mangala move to the North West from another of his club’s, French giants Lyon.
Mangala only crossed the Channel in January after an impressive stint at Nottingham Forest.
Sky reporter Florian Plettenberg adds that a permanent deal later down the line could set Everton back around £33 million. The hope will be that, when the time comes to consider a full-time transfer for the silky Belgium international, Everton will be in a position to spend such a sum with Textor’s backing.
As for Lyon, Mangala’s departure will not boost Textor’s already troubled relationship with Les Gones’ fanbase.
Head coach Pierre Sage confirmed on Wednesday, meanwhile, that Mangala did not train with the rest of the squad in order to avoid an injury that could scupper his impending switch to Goodison Park.
“Orel Mangala was not present this morning,” Sage tells the official Olympique Lyonnaiss website. “It’s a precautionary measure.”
Former Nottingham Forest ace could return to England
Formerly of Anderlecht, Borussia Dortmund, Hamburg and Stuttgart, 26-year-old Mangala could form a new-look Everton partnership with the impressive Iroegbunam while easing the burden on veteran Idrissa Gana Gueye.
Mangala, capped 19 times by Belgium, possesses many of the same attributes that attracted Dyche’s side to Iroegbunam. A stylish operator who is extremely comfortable receiving the ball from the defenders while playing probing passes between the lines.
His press-resistant qualities should also appeal to an Everton side who struggled to keep the ball in Saturday’s 4-0 dismantling by Tottenham Hotspur.
One player who could be on his way out of The Toffees before the deadline this week is Neal Maupay.
The much-maligned striker was left out of Dyche’s squad for that Doncaster clash, with the former Burley boss saying at full-time that a departure is still on the cards despite links with Marseille going cold.
“Possibly,” Dyche told Liverpool World when asked about Maupay’s potential exit. “It was just a risk and reward scenario (leaving him out). There is possibly something that is going to happen but we are waiting on that.”
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