Everton youth defender Niels Nkounkou looks set to complete a loan move to French side Saint-Ettiene after the club held ‘advanced talks’ with the blues over recent days, according to recent reports.
Nkounkou joined Everton in the summer of 2020 on a free transfer after rejecting a professional contract at his former club Marseille.
The Frenchman would make 7 first-team appearances for Carlo Ancelotti’s side in his first season at the club before joining Belgian club Standard Liege on a season-long loan for last year’s campaign.
He would make 25 appearances for the Belgian side, showing glimpses of his potential at times, before returning to Goodison Park.
With Everton selling Lucas Digne midway through last season, Nkounkou was expected to stay at the club for the 2022/23 season and play back-up to Vitaly Mykolenko. However, he completed a loan deal to Championship side Cardiff City during the summer window.
According to Le Parisien, Niels Nkounkou is set to have his loan deal at in the Welsh capital cut short, with Saint-Ettiene having ‘advanced talks’ with Everton over a loan move. A deal could potentially be completed in the coming days.
Saint-Etienne are in advanced discussions for the loan of Niels Nkounkou, who has been on loan at Cardiff since the summer. Nkounkou could join Saint-Etienne in the coming days.
— EFC DAILY (@EFCdaily_) January 10, 2023
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Everton may need to halt any potential deal for the 22-year-old whilst attempting to sort a solution for the left-back position, with on-loan left-back Ruben Vinagre supposably wanting more game time than he is being offered at Goodison Park.