Niels Nkounkou has revealed that he was surprised when Saint-Étienne took up an option to sign him last summer as he believed he would be heading back to Everton.
The young Frenchman, a cut-price acquisition in 2020 following his release by Marseille, made seven appearances for the Toffees, including a couple of hugely impressive displays in the Carabao Cup under Carlo Ancelotti, before being sent out on loan to Standard Liege and Cardiff City.
With his contract set to expire in 2023, he signed a new deal at Goodison Park before joining Saint’é on loan for the second half of the 2022-23 campaign.
That deal included an option for the Ligue 2 club to make the deal permanent but Nkounkou didn’t expect them to be able to exercise it despite how well he was performing for Les Verts.
“As I explained, when I arrived at Saint’é, it was a loan with an option to buy,” he said in an interview with Peuple Vert (via Sport Witness), “but the option clause inserted by Everton was so high that Saint’é couldn’t afford it given that they didn’t know if they were going to keep afloat themselves. They had money problems.
“They said to me: ‘You know what? The option is there, we have to accept it, but under no circumstances are we going to mention it or exercise it.’
“Then the director comes to see me: ‘Niels, at the end of the season, we’re exercising the option.’
“They tell me: ‘Given how you’re playing, if we don’t take up the purchase option, we’re going to look like crazy people! Because we’re going to let go a player like that.’
“I think Everton had set the purchase option at €2.5 million. At that time, I wanted to return to Everton. Before signing the loan at Saint’é, I extended [my contract] with Everton.”
Ultimately, the deal worked out well for Saint-Étienne who immediately sold him on to Eintracht Frankfurt for €7.5m.