Reports across the European media suggest that Manchester United have been joined by Everton in the race to sign Lyon star Moussa Dembele.
Lyon standout
23-year-old hitman Dembele made a return to his home country last summer, when the Frenchman joined Lyon from Celtic for €22 million.
And, on the back of an impressive stint with the Scottish champions, Dembele has since gone on to carry his goalscoring exploits back to Ligue 1.
The powerful attacker’s debut season at the Parc Olympique Lyonnais saw him rack up 20 goals and 6 assists across all competitions.
Moussa Dembele just loves a derby goal 🙌
A 95th-minute winner to send Lyon above rivals Saint-Etienne into 3rd in Ligue 1?
The fans will be talking about this one for some time 👊 pic.twitter.com/C8DPpCtJdF
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) January 20, 2019
To this point in the current campaign, meanwhile, Dembele has found the net a solid 6 times in 9 league outings.
Maxwel Cornet (C) is congratulated by Houssem Aouar (R) and Moussa Dembele (L) after scoring a goal during the match between Olympique Lyonnais (OL) and Stade Malherbe Caen. (Photo by PHILIPPE DESMAZES / AFP) (Photo credit should read PHILIPPE DESMAZES/AFP/Getty Images)
Premier League bound?
As such, the French talent, who has also notched 13 goals in 25 appearances for Les Bleus’ U21 side, is unsurprisingly beginning to catch the eye of some of European football’s heavyweights.
The last couple of weeks have seen Manchester United heavily-linked with a swoop for Dembele.
Duncan Castles even went as far as to claim that contact has already been established on the part of the Red Devils:
‘I can tell you there has been contact between Manchester United and individuals close to Moussa Dembele to assess the player’s interest in the move and to work out what the cost would be in terms of salary.’
As per further updates across Europe over the last 48 hours, though, one of United’s Premier League rivals look set to rival the Manchester giants in the race for Dembele’s signature.
The outfit in question are Everton.
The likes of the Guardian (via Goal), the Sun and Football Insider all suggest that the Toffees have firmly entered the fray for Lyon’s star striker.
According to FI:
‘A French source has told Football Insider that Dembele regards a transfer to an elite Premier League club as the logical next step in his career.’
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