The Rumour Mill

AC Milan in for Niang

23/08/2012 |

Comments (19)

It seems the excitement over M'Baye Niang has cooled dramitically with the news earlier this week that AC Milan were getting in on the game. Latest suggestions are that the Italian giants have apparently offered the 17-year-old French striker a 1-year loan deal with a €3M payment to Caen...

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Reader Comments

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Trevor Lynes
648 Posted 23/08/2012 at 19:06:46

Does anyone know what happened to the Niang trial last week?

I've read nothing about it since.

Michael Kenrick
Editorial Team
654 Posted 23/08/2012 at 19:25:49

I can't really find much in English on this. Please post any links you find.

Sean O\'Brien
655 Posted 23/08/2012 at 19:29:56

Whilst things are going well, and without being a doom mongerer, does anybody know how the trial went that apparently started last week and was for three days and where we are in relation to signing him?

Ian Glassey
657 Posted 23/08/2012 at 19:26:45

We don't need him; too young to be away from home, I would think he will be easily led and end up getting himself into trouble.

Jay Harris
661 Posted 23/08/2012 at 19:43:52

Moyes was apparently happy with the trial but having got Miralass and with limited funds he may be looking to fill other positions.

Everton certainly cooled on the deal following Miralass signing.

Ken Buckley
662 Posted 23/08/2012 at 19:40:04

Todays Echo Blue blog(p57) Greg O'Keefe says Moyes is 'Monitoring the situation' which is journalistic shorthand way of saying the manager likes the player, is interested but is'nt ready/able to do a deal just yet.

Andrew Bone
676 Posted 23/08/2012 at 20:22:50

The rumours, although probably unfounded were that he was impressed with our set up, and we were impressed with him. Hasn't he had a trial with Arsenal as well this week?
A 17 yr old with AC Milan, us and Arsenal trialling him suggests he must be talented, however I could see one of two things happening. 1) he would join and not play regularly, 2) he would have an outstanding season and be poached by a champions league side.
In this window I would love to see an exciting young talent join and make a success of himself at the club, but feel that going for experience could be more beneficial in improving on last years effort.
Hows that for sitting on the fence?

Si Cooper
677 Posted 23/08/2012 at 20:17:45

If we are still interested he must have really impressed.

There are question marks against him and he would probably not be straight into the team, which may make it difficult for DM to prise Uncle Bill's clammy fingers off what remains of the transfer kitty for a punt on this.

Think we would prefer an initial loan as well (to reduce the element of gambling somewhat) but now we have the obstacle of being more tempting than Milan and that may require cash up-front.

Stephen McCann
678 Posted 23/08/2012 at 20:29:36

Good source; the kid was asking for parity with senior top earners. At 17 years old, I don't think he had a chance in hell of getting that little earner.

Aidy Dews
681 Posted 23/08/2012 at 20:31:04

I'd like us to sign him but if we cant afford him or he wants a move to AC Milan then what can we do?.

Hopefully we have other deals lined up as I don't think the squad currently is big enough!.

Hopefully we can get in a decentish striker in to play second fiddle to Jelavic but is good enough to step in and do a job if Jelavic ever gets injured or suspended. Someone like Guidetti on loan from City for a season with a view to buy would be good.

And then I wouldnt mind us going in for a midfielder who was a jack of all trades and could pretty much play anywhere in midfield to boost the numbers in the squad and allow us to loan out Barkley to the championship to gain valuable game time and experience.

James Cadwaladr
687 Posted 23/08/2012 at 20:43:06

Ian, its a bit unfair to say he is too young to be away from home and you think he will beeasily led and get into trouble.

Cahill travelled half way around the world in his mid teens, turned out alright didnt he.

Si Cooper
688 Posted 23/08/2012 at 20:35:08

What do you mean 'poached', Andrew?

I would hope that a loan deal would give us a guaranteed first-option to buy, and if we buy him now then another club would have to meet our valuation (or that of a tribunal) before we sold him on.

Every player has a price thanks to our financial situation but that doesn't mean any club can take away a player we have a contract with. Buying in a young player and making a reasonable profit a year later seems like good business to me.

James Morgan
703 Posted 23/08/2012 at 21:18:42

I was going to say 'well that's us out then' but then realised Mirallas chose us over Arsenal, so there is hope. He may prefer the lifestyle in England and rate his chances of game time better, so we can all 'watch this space.'

Simon Smith
726 Posted 23/08/2012 at 23:36:11

Here's hoping that he was at Goodison for the win over Man ure, saw the commitment from the players, the way the ol' lady was rocking to the cheers from the fans and thought " this is the place for me, no other will do!" and is just waiting for DM and Blue Bill to put the contract under his nose

Jimmy Sørheim
750 Posted 24/08/2012 at 07:12:30

This is straight forward really. The kid was on trial, it ended we did not sign him and that means Moyes is looking for someone better, perhaps someone with more goals to him.

Right now we are looking for players to come right into the team and do well, this can not be said of Niang. We simply do not have time to wait and see, we need real quality, not just talent.

The story of Doyle and Ward must be a bad joke, these two belong at Wolves, not Everton.
We have aimed high with the signing of Pienaar, Naismith and Mirallas so it would shock me if Moyes just went for squad fillers now. We are much better then that.

What about that Ligue 1 left back Assisoko or what his name is and Rhodes from Huddersfield? I would feel a lot better if we went for one of them.

James Morgan
772 Posted 24/08/2012 at 09:50:17

Echo says we are negotiating a deal for him.

Sam Hoare
776 Posted 24/08/2012 at 10:24:05

Wasn't sure about paying 6m for relatively untested youngster but if the fee is €3m then that seems more reasonable. Suppose it depends on how good he looked during his trial. Generally speaking it seems that 17 is too young to be really sure whether a player will make it or not unless he really is in the top 1%...so many of the highly rated youngsters fade into obscurity.

Philip Roberts
779 Posted 24/08/2012 at 10:30:49

Sam, if he was in the top 1%, he wouldn't be traipsing round clubs having a trial, the top teams would be banging his door down. (I can't remember Rooney going for a trial before Utd signed him.)

I think we might be getting carried away with this kid, as I'm pretty sure if he does land up at Goodison, he will only be a part of Stubbs's development squad (Ressies). I might be wrong, but I can't see him in the 1st team squad, so spending any real money on him is a no-no in my opinion, as we need players who are going to contribute.

Tom Bowers
803 Posted 24/08/2012 at 12:58:11

These things don't happen overnight. Yes he's had a trial and the player may have other options to check out before he commits. Everton are not going to reveal information to the media until they have a positve opinion and offer on the table if any. Don't forget the agent's involvement in all this which can protract matters to their advantage also.

If he impressed at the trial then Everton will tell him where he will stand in the pecking order which may not be to the young mans expectancy and so he will test the waters elsewhere.

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