Speaking to Bild, Mainz Sporting Director Christian Heidel expects Moussa Niakhaté to leave the Bundesliga club this summer with newly-promoted Premier League side Nottingham Forest having entered talks to sign the Frenchman.
“We are planning that Moussa will leave,” said Heidel. “It’s quiet here [in Mainz]. I assume that Moussa’s agent is by no means so quiet.”
The Frenchman is a wanted man with Premier League duo West Ham and Everton also monitoring the Frenchman’s situation as he enters the final year of his contract at Mainz.
Niakhaté, 26, missed just four Bundesliga games for Mainz last season and has become a mainstay in central-defence. Since his €6m from Metz in 2018, the former French youth international has played 135 games in all competitions for the Bundesliga side.
Mainz are hoping for around €12m for Niakhaté, who would become the second defender to leave the club this summer after Jeremiah St. Juste joined Sporting CP with Maxim Leitsch (24) coming in as a replacement.
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