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A report has claimed that Malick Fofana of Olympique Lyonnais is a potential transfer target for both Everton and Liverpool

Everton are attempting to derail Liverpool’s transfer plans for Olympique Lyonnais wonderkid Malick Fofana, according to a report.

The Blues’ neighbours, who last season celebrated their first league title in front of fans for 35 years have been reinforcing their position so far this summer with what has been a lavish spending spree so far.

Arne Slot’s men have broken their transfer record to snap up their first nine-figure signing in the shape of £116million Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen, while also buying Jeremie Frimpong from the same Bundesliga side for £29.5million and Bournemouth’s Milos Kerkez for £40million.

However, the Reds might not be having it all their own way, according to a report from TEAMtalk, who state that despite facing tough competition from no fewer than half the division – with at least 10 other Premier League clubs also interested, including Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur, Everton have made contact with Lyon to enquire about Fofana, although it’s also remarked that no clubs are in advanced talks at this stage.

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Born in Aalst, in East Flanders on March 31, 2005, Fofana only came out of his teens earlier this year but the winger who can operate on both flanks, although predominantly deployed on the left so far, has caught the eye by hitting double figures for Lyon in all competitions last season.

Snapped up from Gent for €17million plus up to €5m in add ons in January 2024, Fofana, who has been capped once by Belgium, struck 11 times in 2024/25 with six of his goals coming in his club’s Europa League campaign.

We can use Comparisonator’s Virtual Transfer tool to correlate Fofana’s statistics from last season against Premier League players in his position and only Nottingham Forest’s Anthony Elanga (56%) can better his shots on target percentage (54%) while with 70% he’d rank third for successful dribbles in the final third of the pitch percentage behind Elanga (75%) and Antoine Semenyo of Bournemouth (72%).

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Fofana’s 79% score for successful long passes percentage would also place him third in that category after Elanga (100%) and Liverpool’s Luis Diaz (81%) while with an average of 1.09 successful crosses per 90 minutes, he’d be sixth in that section behind leader Pedro Neto of Chelsea (1.94).

Malick Fofana's shots on target percentage for Lyon in 2024/25 compared to Premier League players in his position

Despite being forcibly relegated last week by the DNGC, the body which oversees the accounts of French professional football clubs, Lyon were then subsequently included on the 2025/26 Ligue 1 fixture list as they continue to appeal their demotion.

Owned by John Textor, who last year claimed he was 24 hours away from completing a takeover of Everton from Farhad Moshiri before The Friedkin Group came back in, Lyon, who have been seven times champions of France – all since the millennium – have described the decision to send them down as “incomprehensible.”

Last October, Textor’s Eagle Football Group, which owns a 77% stake in Lyon, announced debts of £422m and while Lyon raised around £45m with the sales of Maxence Caqueret to Como in January and Rayan Cherki to Manchester City in June in an attempt to improve their finances, high earners such as Alexandre Lacazette and Anthony Lopes have also been released and if their relegation is rubber stamped then they could be forced to part with young gem Fofana for less than their €50million (£42.6m) valuation.

Everton snapped up two players from Lyon last summer with Jake O’Brien joining for £16.43million in July and Orel Mangala arriving on a season-long loan on transfer deadline day (August 31) with agent Giovanni Bia claiming the Belgium international had already agreed to go to Fiorentina before Textor himself intervened and decided to send the midfielder to Goodison Park.

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Potentially beating Liverpool in a transfer battle is a tantalising prospect for Everton.

When I was first talking to him, I could tell he thought I was going to tell him I was signing for Liverpool, because I don’t think a lot of players had turned down Liverpool at that certain time.

“He sounded kind of disappointed, and said: ‘Go on then, son, tell me...’ I replied: ‘Hopefully, you’ll be a bit happier, because I’m coming to join you, and Everton Football Club.’

“He went: ‘Oh my God, son, do you know what you’ve done for the blue half of Merseyside?’ I think that’s why I’m popular!

“Not because of my football, but because I turned Liverpol down, that’s why I’m popular with the Blues.

A lot of Liverpool fans have said: ‘You’d have loved it at Liverpool,’ but 37 years on, I’m still involved with Everton Football Club.

“I’m proud to be an ambassador, I’m proud to be an Evertonian.

I’m still at the club I love.”

While Snodin will have felt vindicated in his decision with the Blues going on to clinch their ninth, and what remains their last, League Championship later that year, his move also appeared to mark the end of an era when it came to Everton beating Liverpool in direct battles for transfer targets.

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The following decade, strikers Dean Saunders and then Stan Collymore would both choose Anfield over Goodison Park in record-breaking moves while in 2005, when David Moyes was closing in on a deal for Momo Sissoko, the Mali midfielder’s old Valencia boss Rafael Benitez hijacked the move to take him across Stanley Park instead.

*Comparisonator is a football data comparison tool from 271 professional leagues around the world which compares players and clubs by utilising over 100 different parameters.
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