Eliaquim Mangala is set for a move to Valencia on loan after failing to impress Pep Guardiola.
After joining from Porto in the summer of 2014, it seemed as if Eliaquim Mangala would be the man to partner captain Vincent Kompany in the heart of defence, but after a bright start to his Manchester City career, the Frenchman failed to establish himself in the squad, often looking out of place in the heart of the City defence and he didn’t take to the English game as well as City would have hoped.
According to Le10Sport, Mangala’s agent Jorge Mendes was trying to get Manchester City to organize a loan move for the player back to Porto. After 64 appearances for City in 2 seasons since his reported £31.8 million transfer, Pep Guardiola has reportedly told the 25-year-old to find a new club.
Manchester City have splurged huge money on John Stones and once Vincent Kompany returns to fitness, Mangala is going to find chances extremely difficult to come across.
In a recent development, however, according to The Manchester Evening News, La Liga side Valencia moved ahead of Porto in the race to sign the Frenchman after making a late move and Jorge Mendes, his agent was in Madrid to discuss terms of the transfer with Valencia’s representatives and was seen arriving for his medical. It expected to be a loan move with Manchester City paying a portion of his wages.
With Porto, Mangala enjoyed arguably the best period of his career, winning 4 trophies in 3 years with the club. He would go on to become one of the best young defenders in the Europe and lead to then manager Manuel Pellegrini and Manchester City to spend a lot of money in acquiring the defender.
AC Milan were interested in taking Mangala on loan to the San Siro, as were Premier League rivals Tottenham Hotspur, but it seems as if the big Frenchman has rejected his former club for a move to Los Che.