Sent to Cardiff City for the season to get some game time, Everton’s Niels Nkounkou will only be spending the first half of the campaign in Wales.
This comes after claims the player was set to cut short his stay with the Championship club and return to the Toffees, although he won’t be staying around Merseyside for very long.
That’s because he will move straight on to Saint-Etienne in Ligue 2, according to Le Parisien’s Benjamin Quarez.
Taking to Twitter, the journalist explains the defender is ‘expected to arrive tonight’ in the city to complete the move, which is expected to be another loan.
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Niels Nkounkou doit lui arriver ce soir à Saint-Etienne. Le latéral gauche a réglé sa rupture de prêt à Cardiff ces dernières heures. #mercato @leparisiensport https://t.co/EsE7lhKaCA— Benjamin Quarez (@B_Quarez) January 13, 2023
The defender has ‘sorted out the termination of his loan at Cardiff in the past few hours’ in order to allow this move to happen.
Poached from Marseille for a small fee, the now 22-year-old has made seven appearances in all competitions for Everton to date, and spent time on loan at both Cardiff City and Standard Liège.
He made 18 appearances for the Championship side this season, picking up an assist in the 3-1 win over Wigan, but he will now finish the season in France.
As for Everton, they appear to be doing what they can to continue his development.
