Wilfried Zaha is close to joining Lyon on a season-long loan from Galatasaray, with the French club set to cover most of the former Crystal Palace forward’s salary.
It is understood a deal for the Ivory Coast international to move to Ligue 1 has been agreed after Lyon’s owner, John Textor, spoke to Zaha this week. The American businessman, who is also the biggest shareholder at Palace but is looking to sell his 45% stake to allow a potential takeover of Everton, is believed to have played a key role in negotiations with Galatasaray.
The deal will ensure Lyon pay no loan fee but they will cover the majority of Zaha’s wages, understood to be around £130,000 a week. He has fallen down the pecking order in Turkey despite helping Galatasaray win the league title last season after leaving Selhurst Park in the previous summer.
Palace and Leicester held talks with the 31-year-old about a potential return to the Premier League, with the Palace chairman, Steve Parish, saying he would bring Zaha back “in a heartbeat”. But it is understood that any move to an English club would have made Zaha liable to pay income tax in the UK and Turkey and scuppered those moves.
Palace, who are expected to confirm the signings of Eddie Nketiah and Maxence Lacroix on deadline day, had also tracked Lyon’s Rayan Cherki. But while Fulham were also interested in the France Under-21 forward, he is set to sign a new three-year contract to stay in Ligue 1 after returning to first-team training on Thursday.
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Lyon have allowed Orel Mangala to join Everton on a season-long loan but Ghana midfielder Ernest Nuamah has rejected a move to an unnamed Premier League club.