One of the more surprising decisions made by Nuno Espírito Santo when he took over at Nottingham Forest was to put Orel Mangala to one side.
The midfielder had been a staple of Steve Cooper’s plans at City Ground over the first half of the season, but the Portuguese manager almost immediately sent the Belgium international to the bench, leading him to seek a move away, which he got with a loan to Lyon.
The move was brought up by journalist Sacha Tavolieri on his YouTube show Le Noyau Dur, where he asked Mélissa Onana, agent and sister of the Everton midfielder, whether Mangala’s decision to leave Nottingham Forest was a good or a bad move.
Mélissa Onana said: “I know the club a bit, Nottingham, and leaving is a good choice. Firstly, leaving the Premier League is very difficult. The mentality in England, I like it a lot. It’s really a football country. One the sporting conditions side, the financial aspect too, let’s not lie, that plays a part.
“With that in mind, if he leaves, there has to be a specific reason, because you can’t tell me that there’s not other clubs on the table. Leaving the Premier League is very complicated, so there has to be a reason.”
Sacha Tavolieri does explain that the decision to leave from Mangala’s standpoint was when Nuno took over and stopped playing him, and the only club ready to meet the conditions set by the Premier League side was Lyon.
