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4 months ago
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Coincidence or chance, it is the day that OL and John Textor appear before the DNCG commission that the transfer window of the Rhone club takes a first turn. According to our information, the seven-time French champions are about to complete the arrival of a first major reinforcement this summer. For once, it is in central defense that this is happening, and more precisely in the left axis. The Lyon recruitment unit, which had made this position a summer priority of the transfer window, had multiplied the leads in recent weeks. The latter finally found the ideal reinforcement in the person of Moussa Niakhaté in a file that has accelerated in recent hours.
Aged 28, the player trained at Valenciennes has solid international experience. After an encouraging start at Valenciennes in Ligue 2, it was at Metz that he revealed himself in 2017-18 for his one and only season in Ligue 1 (35 appearances). It was there that the German team Mainz spotted the player who was then a French international hopeful and signed him in the summer of 2018. During 4 seasons in the Bundesliga, he was the defensive pillar of FSV and finished as the German club’s player of the year in 2021-22 for his last season at the club. The following summer, Nottingham Forest, who recruited 21 players for their return to the Premier League, bought him for €15 million.
Moussa Niakhaté has become essential with Senegal
In a plethora of players, Niakhaté started the season as a starter, but saw his English season abruptly stopped by a hamstring injury that would cause him to spend a good part of the season in the infirmary. Nevertheless, the Senegalese rock returned in March and found a starting place in central defense. A convincing recovery that would coincide with his first caps in the Senegalese national team. With the Lions of Teranga, he brought a real plus, achieving a great performance against Brazil in June 2023, showing himself to be imperial in aerial duels thanks to his 1.90m alongside Kalidou Koulibaly who was full of praise for him.
Last season in Nottingham was more neutral. Despite some good matches in defense, the Senegalese had a truncated season, particularly due to his participation in the 2024 CAN where he was a starter in central defense and then when Nuno Esperito Santo left him out for 8 matches after trying him as a left piston on his return from the CAN. His benching did not help matters for Nottingham, who fought until the end to stay in the Premier League with Moussa Niakhaté finally starting in 3 of the last 5 matches.
OL rather than Crystal Palace and LOSC
Considered a good player, but inferior to the Brazilian phenomenon Murillo, his defensive partner that Chelsea dreams of getting back, Niakhaté, whose contract with Forest ends in June 2025, remains a good international player who has played almost 300 professional matches. Enough to make OL supporters salivate, as they will be able to count on a player who is solid defensively, valuable in the air and who decided to join Lyon on the good advice of his former teammate Orel Mangala, while LOSC and Crystal Palace were also interested. The operation, estimated at around fifteen million euros, will allow Nottingham Forest to record a major sale on June 30, the date on which English clubs must report on their Financial Fair Play.
Proof of the importance of closing the file quickly, a medical visit has already been planned on the OL side. In any case, this is very good news for Pierre Sage who will finally be able to count on an experienced defensive pillar, a starter with Senegal, he who has had to tinker with his defense since his arrival at the head of the Gônes, with the surprise Jack O’Brien and a Duje Caleta-Car who is correct if not exciting. This will surely not be the only defensive recruit in this position, since Dejan Lovren and Sinaly Diomandé are still missing and no longer have a future within the Rhone club…
