Newcastle United and Everton appear to have missed out on the chance to sign Lyon defender Mouctar Diakhaby as he has decided that he wants to join Valencia rather than head to the Premier League, according to France Football.
The French news outlet claims that Diakhaby, 21, is heading to La Liga in a deal worth £13.2million, despite there being contact made from both Newcastle and Everton about a potential swoop to lure him across the English Channel.
It is understood that the Toffees even offered Champions League club Lyon a better financial package than Valencia, but that did not sway the defensive powerhouse from deciding to move to Spain.
OPINION
Newcastle and Everton fans should be gutted about missing out on the chance to sign Diakhaby. He is a very highly-rated young defender who was really starting to make a name for himself at Lyon last season. He made 21 appearances in all competitions for the French giants last term and scored two goals in the process. Everton fans will surely know a lot more about him than Newcastle’s because he made two appearances against them in the Europa League group stages, coming out on top in both of them fixtures. They will know that Diakhaby is definitely worth the £13.2million that Valencia are paying for him. It’s a shock that even though Lyon were offered more money by the Toffees than Valencia that they accepted that offer. However it goes to show that money isn’t everything in football and the 21-year-old clearly sees himself doing better in Spain than in England.