Everton could sell Niels Nkounkou for just £2.6m after successful loan at Saint-Etienne
Everton could sell Niels Nkounkou for just £2.6m after his successful loan spell with Saint-Etienne this season, according to Score (22 March).
The French youngster has recently been called up to the France Under-21 squad following his good form in Ligue 2 while on loan, where he has made ten appearances and scored two goals since joining in January.
And his performances have already convinced the French side to look into making his signing permanent, and it’s believed it would cost up to £2.6m to do that although Everton may decide to keep hold of the 22-year-old instead according to a new report.
“Niels Nkounkou does not belong to the Greens contractually,” they wrote (22 March).
“In view of its effectiveness, a sum of between two and three million euros could be required by Everton to sell its player at the end of the season, unless the sale is not an option considered by the Toffees.
“At this stage, it is difficult for Saint-Etienne to know if today’s successes can all be capitalized on in the coming season.”
Wait and see
Nkounkou has had an impressive season with both Cardiff and Saint-Etienne, but finds himself way down the pecking order at Everton currently.
Vitalii Mykolenko and Ben Godfrey are both battling for the first-choice spot, while loanee Ruben Vinagre is involved too until the end of the season at least.
But while it would be easy to write Nkounkou off and let him leave, relegation is certainly not completely written off and he could be an excellent option if the worst were to happen.
The likelihood is that Godfrey and Mykolenko would likely move on or at least attract a lot of interest, and Nkounkou would be a shrewd replacement without having to spend a penny.
There’s no need to be rushed into any decisions just yet, but even if we stay in the Premier League and a sale is seen as the best option that amount of money seems very low for a very good prospect so we should definitely be looking to up our asking price.