Olympique Lyonnais confirm new Ernest Nuamah decision amid Everton transfer interest and John Textor claim
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Olympique Lyonnais have confirmed that Ernest Nuamah will be in their squad for their game against Toulouse tonight.
Everton manager David Moyes revealed that the winger is in the club's list of potential targets in the January transfer window. Nuamah was linked with a switch to Goodison Park in the summer and the Blues have retained an interest.
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Hide AdFrench media outlet RCM Sports suggested that Everton had agreed a €20 million deal with Lyon to sign Nuamah. However, speaking at his pre-Tottenham Hotspur press conference, Moyes insisted that wasn't the case.
Still, supporters will likely be keeping tabs on Nuamah and developments. But there is a chance that he could play for Lyon this evening against Toulouse after the French outfit posted their official squad list for the Ligue 1 encounter. The Ghana international has managed just one goal and one assist in 18 appearances for Les Gones this term. However, last season the 21-year-old scored seven times and created three.
Lyon are in a difficult financial situation and have been provisionally relegated to the second tier by French football finance watchdog the Direction Nationale du Contrôle de Gestion after Eagle Football Group recorded debts of £422 million.
John Textor, who owns Lyon and was interested in buying Everton before being gazumped by The Friedkin Group, admitted player sales are needed but not every member of Pierre Sage’s squad is available. Speaking to RCM Sport, the American said: “You guys are taking the headlines that we are in trouble and saying everyone is for sale - not everyone is for sale. Who the hell said everyone said everyone is for sale? The press.
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Hide Ad“Our plan is to sell the players we planned to sell before the DNCG announcement. When you say everybody is for sale, let me tell you how football clubs work. When the club decides to sell certain players, it advances certain players into the market place because it needs to move them off the roster.
“At the same time, it gets unsolicited calls from other clubs saying: 'Hey, I want to buy a player' who you didn't think of selling. You think: 'Huh, I haven't considered that, maybe I would sell him'. I'm only interested in selling players who we had planned to move anyway and I'm only interested in selling players if we have a better player that can come in behind him. That hasn't changed.
“I've read it everyone that the whole team is for sale. I've had clubs from Turkey offering me p*** money for players because they think we are desperate but we tell them to f*** off. It's not happening. This image the whole place is for sale is not happening.
“Cherki has wanted to leave for a couple of years. It has nothing to do with the DNCG, it's not happening. He literally went to PSG last year and sent me text message that he really wants to go to PSG. I love Rayan. I told him he couldn't play and training with us unless he signed a longer-term contract. He has a longer-term contract because I forced him out of the squad. He comes back into the squad, plays great, I see him in the locker room, joke with him and say: 'Look how good you play with a contract'. I hope he wants to stay but no-one is pushing him out because of the DNCG. He wanted to leave, ultimately he signed a contract and is playing better. It's fabulous, it is football.
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Hide Ad“In terms of [Malick] Fofana, I don;t know where this story has come from. No-one has told me about Fofana and I haven't told anyone. The problem is we have 29 players and we need 24. These guys need to eat. Top players are not happy unless they're getting playing time.”
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