Said to be after Sunderland’s Didier Ndong, Lyon appear to have turned to England to find their new midfielder, one capable of helping out Lucas Tousart in the middle of the park.
Having lost Corentin Tolisso to Bayern Munich, the Ligue 1 side have a bit of money to spend, and while the Black Cats’ most expensive transfer of all time is a target, so is Watford’s Etienne Capoue.
This is according to an article on Le10 Sport on Friday, who claim the former Tottenham flop was an alternative to Celta Vigo’s 20-year-old Pape Cheikh Diop, for whom the La Liga side are said to be asking €10-15m.
The French website state that Capoue’s physicality and defensive attributes, as well as his ability to help the team move forward, is exactly what Bruno Génésio and co. are looking for before the end of the transfer window.
While this is all well and good on paper, if Lyon are finding €10-15m a bit much for Diop, then getting the Watford midfielder could prove equally as difficult and expensive.
A key member of Walter Mazzarri’s side last year, the 29-year-old hasn’t exactly been given that status by Marco Silva so far, coming on for 10 mins against Bournemouth (scoring a goal) and starting the Hornets’ 3-2 loss to Bristol City in the Carabao Cup this season.
With a long season ahead, this could just be wise management by the Portuguese, but it could very well be that if a good offer were to come for him, Watford could be tempted to sell.
We’ll have to wait and see, but with two years left on his deal and an £8m original expenditure, €10-15m sounds about right for a player who might not be in their manager’s first-team plans.
