Everton and Newcastle United have reportedly failed with bids for Lyon defender Mouctar Diakhaby.
According to France Football, Lyon defender Mouctar Diakhaby is signing for Valencia after Everton and Newcastle United failed with their attempts to sign him.
Diakhaby, 21, was on the books with Nantes before joining Lyon from USSA Vertou in 2013, and he has made his way up through the ranks with the French club.
After making his first-team debut in September 2016, Diakhaby has gone on to become a key player for Lyon, and now has more than 50 senior appearances to his name, whilst he also has 26 caps for France across various youth levels.
A tall, physically-imposing centre back standing at 6ft 4in tall, Diakhaby has shown himself to be strong and good in the air, and with huge potential still to unlock, a summer move is on the cards.
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France Football report that the central defender is set to sign a five-year contract with Valencia, with a deal worth around €15million (£13million) poised to be completed with the Spanish giants.
The report also notes that Newcastle United have failed with a move for Diakhaby, whilst Everton ramped up talks over a deal earlier this week, but were stonewalled by the defender as he preferred a move to Spain.
Everton allegedly offered a great financial package – either to the club or to the player himself – but Valencia have won the race, with a deal expected to go through before the end of the month.
That’s a blow for both the Toffees and the Magpies, and leaves them to go back to the drawing board in their pursuit of defensive reinforcements.
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