The transfer intermediary who worked on the Orel Mangala move confirms the player ‘said yes to Fiorentina’ before Lyon loaned him to Everton, but the door is open for the Viola in future.
The 26-year-old midfielder had seemed to be on the verge of making the move to the Stadio Artemio Franchi this summer and the representative who organised the negotiations said that it was essentially a done deal.
“I had got the deal in place with Pradé and Goretti, with Lyon having changed their terms, opening up to a loan with option to buy,” Giovanni Bia told Tuttomercatoweb.
“However, the President then decided to give him to Everton and it all fell apart when it seemed as if it would be done. The figures for the loan with option to buy were for a total of €25-30m including add-ons.
“The player was getting ready to fly out to Florence when it all fell apart.”
Mangala could still be in Fiorentina future
Olympique Lyonnais decided they wanted to keep hold of Mangala, so as he is under contract with them until June 2028, it became a dry loan to Everton – that means without an option to make it permanent.
With that in mind, Bia is confident that the Belgium international with 21 senior caps could try again to join Fiorentina in the summer of 2025 when his Everton loan has expired.
“Seeing how glad the player was to join Fiorentina, I’d say so, but it depends on Everton and what he does this season. I do want to repeat, the player had given the all-clear and said yes to the Viola.”
Mangala came up through the Anderlecht academy, but also had experiences in Germany with Borussia Dortmund, Stuttgart and Hamburg, then England with Nottingham Forest on loan in 2024.