Eliaquim Mangala, 31 next month, arrived in Saint-Étienne on Wednesday, as announced earlier by L’Équipe. The Saint-Etienne leaders hope to sign a six-month contract with the French international defender (8 selections) but the discussions have not yet been successful so far. They will continue in the next few hours.
The former Manchester City player has been free to join the club of his choice since leaving Valencia. Contrary to the latest information that has circulated, there has been no question of a medical visit for the moment. AS Saint-Etienne is waiting to find common ground to get them through this stage. Another European club would also have come to the information recently.
At the microphone of Canal + on Tuesday, the Saint-Etienne coach Pascal Dupraz confided regarding Mangala: “He meets criteria set upstream of the transfer window. We consider that he knows better than the French championship because he is international. He defended the colors of the France team. He has played in big clubs and he plays as a central defender which is a position sought by AS Saint-Etienne. Loïc (Perrin), Jean-François (Soucasse) and Samuel (Rustem) are in their role by seeing with this player, and others, the economic aspect. »
