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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
Sport
Richard Garnett

Everton can complete free transfer of Ligue 1 star after 'great regret' shared

Everton could grab themselves a free agent at the end of the season, with Moussa Dembele set to leave Lyon.

That's according to Tuttomercatoweb, who claim that both the Blues and Aston Villa are in the mix to land the 26-year-old Frenchman, who will be out of contract at his Ligue 1 side in June.

Dembele found the net 22 times for Lyon last season but only has three goals to his name this campaign, from just 19 appearances. The French club paid £20million to Celtic for his services back in 2018, but are powerless to stop him from walking away for nothing at the end of the season.

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A disappointed manager Vincent Ponsot said: “It’s not a good situation for us to know that he’ll be on a free at the end of the season. We spent 22 million euros on him. It is a great regret. More and more players are released at the end of the contract. Obviously, it is their right (not to extend).”

According to HITC, Dembele turned down a move to Southampton earlier in the season and Everton boss Sean Dyche will have to convince the forward that his future lies at Goodison Park.

TalkSPORT pundit Darren Bent believes it would be a good move for the forward. Speaking on air, he said: “That would be a good striker (for Everton). (Dembele) is a goalscorer. He hasn’t been prolific this season but, last season, he was fantastic.”

No team has scored fewer goals in the Premier League this since than the Blues and Dyche will be desperate to bring in better attacking options at the earliest possible opportunity.

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