Everton have completed their first summer signing with Marseille starlet Niels Nkounkou choosing Goodison Park over a move to Newcastle United, according to the Daily Star.
PSG are not the only Ligue 1 giant who have seen a dazzling young talent slip through their fingers in recent months.
While Tanguy Kouassi has swapped Paris for Bayern Munich, Marseille have problems of their own with Jores Rahou, Ilyes Zouoaui and the now-departed Nkounkou all seeing their contracts expire.
A left-back who can also play in a more advanced, attacking position, Nkounkou has rejected fresh terms at the Stade Velodrome and, even though he is yet to make a league appearance for Andre Villas-Boas’s side, he was not short of offers.
The Star claim that RB Leipzig and Juventus held talks, while Newcastle were also keen.
But, as of Thursday lunchtime, his move to Everton has now been confirmed.
“Niels is a young, talented player with good technical and physical skills,” director of football Marcel Brands told the club’s official website.
“We have been following him for months.
“Hopefully he can learn a lot from Lucas Digne and Leighton Baines, as well as Carlo Ancelotti and David Unsworth, and follow the same pathway into the first team the likes of Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Mason Holgate have taken in recent years.”
As pointed out by the Star, Brands sees Nkounkou as a star for the future. And there are few better in the game when it comes to unearthing rough diamonds like this.
The report adds that the teenager, who will move to Everton on a free, will train with Carlo Ancelotti’s first-team initially.
Could he take Leighton Baines’ place as the Toffees’ back-up left-back, with Lucas Digne sewing up the position for years to come?
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