The fates of Everton and a certain Serie A club became strangely intertwined in the final few weeks of the summer transfer window.
The Toffees were one of a host of Premier League clubs keen on Roma midfielder Edoardo Bove, HITC understands. Manager Sean Dyche also held talks over a deal that would have seen the 6ft 6ins Reims enforcer Amir Richardson swap France for Goodison Park.
In the end, both players ended up donning the iconic violet kit of Fiorentina by the August 30th deadline. Bove joined for £10 million, while Richardson arrived for a further £8.5 million.
Though Everton would get some semblance of revenge when securing the services of Orel Mangala.
Not only did the Belgian’s arrival offset Everton’s failure to land their other midfield options, it also saw the Merseysiders snatch one of Fiorentina’s primary targets from under the nose of the two-time Europa Conference League runners-up.
Everton beat Fiorentina to Lyon loanee Orel Mangala
Daniele Prade, Fiorentina’s sporting director, admitted during a press conference on Friday that technical director Roberto Goretti was desperate to bring Mangala to the Stadio Artemio Franchi.
Thanks in part to the involvement of John Textor – the Lyon chief who hopes to complete his takeover of Everton sooner rather than later – Mangala would begin September in the deep blue of Everton instead.
“Roberto Goretti wanted Mangala strongly, ever since he arrived (in June),” Prade tells Tuttomercatoweb. “The thing is that he had been paid a lot by Lyon, and at the beginning, there were no openings for the transfer.”
That would change later on in the window, however. Especially once Olympique Lyonnais concluded a deal to bring in the American playmaker Tanner Tessmann from Venezia.
Ironically, Fiorentina missed out on Tessmann too, his arrival at the Groupama Stadium then freeing up Mangala to join Everton.
“When the agents told us they were sending him to play, we tried,” Prade adds on Mangala, Fiorentina struggling to fight off even a cash-strapped Toffees outfit. “There was an economic agreement with the boy.
“But, for Lyon, the conditions offered by Everton were more advantageous.”
According to Sky reporter Florian Plettenberg, writing on X, Everton have the option to turn Mangala’s loan deal into a permanent transfer to the tune of £33 million. Such a fee would have seen the Belgian become the most expensive signing in Fiorentina’s history, replacing 2022 World Cup-winner Nico Gonzalez.
Sean Dyche’s Everton face Amadou Onana’s Aston Villa
At the age of 26, the arrivals of both Mangala and youngster Tim Iroegbunam represent a long-awaited overhaul of Everton’s ageing midfield options.
The latter – joining from Aston Villa as part of the deal that took Lewis Dobbin in the other direction – has arguably been Everton’s stand-out performer so far this term. Iroegbuman plays with a swagger and the sort of ball-carrying prowess missing elsewhere in this Toffees team.
Mangala, meanwhile, could be a superb replacement for the fading Idrissa Gana Gueye in the deep-lying role.
Superb under pressure with his quick feet, smart distribution and press-resistant talents, the 21-time Belgian international should give Dyche the option to progress towards a more possession-based gmaeplan alongside Iroegbunam should he so desire.
Everton will face former midfield general Amadou Onana in Saturday’s trip to Aston Villa. And, at his pre-match press conference, Dyche hinted that Mangala could be thrown in at the deep end against Unai Emery’s side.
Having spent a year-and-a-half at Nottingham Forest before joining Lyon in January, the former Stuttgart and Hamburg man should not need long to adapt to life at Goodison Park.
“Orel, we know he can deal with the Premier League,” Dyche said, via Everton’s official YouTube channel. “He’s back and we’ll assess him (ahead of the weekend).”
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