Yahoo News Nottingham Forest set for PSR boost as £26m transfer nears completion
Nottingham Forest’s balance sheet should be imminently boosted by the sale of Moussa Niakhaté to French club Olympique Lyonnais.
Premier League clubs are looking for last-minute sales to meet Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR) and avoid the points penalties Forest and Everton suffered last season. Senegalese defender Niakhaté is on the verge of a transfer to Lyon worth a reported €31 million (£26m).
According to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, Niakhaté has undergone a medical with Lyon – who finished sixth in Ligue 1 last season – and is expected to sign a four-year contract. It will end Niakhaté’s two-year Forest career after the Reds signed him from German club Mainz in the hectic summer transfer window of 2022.
Niakhaté made 15 starts in the Premier League last season – seven under Steve Cooper and eight under Nuno Espirito Santo. The 28-year-old made 21 league appearances in total.
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He has been by no means a fixture in Forest’s line-up over the past two seasons. Niakhaté only made 37 appearances for the club in all competitions and managed just a single goal, scoring against Aston Villa in a 4-2 defeat at Villa Park in February.
Willy Boly and Brazilian defender Murillo were often preferred to Niakhaté last season and the latter has also been attracting transfer attention. Chelsea have been heavily linked with 21-year-old centre-back Murillo.
