Niels Nkounkou has joined St Etienne on a permanent basis from Everton.
The French club have completed the transfer after triggering the clause they placed in the agreement to take the defender on loan back in January. They confirmed the news on Thursday evening.
Nkounkou joined the Ligue 2 outfit during the January transfer window after spending the first half of the season on loan at Cardiff City. The 22-year-old also spent last season on loan at Standard Liege.
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The full-back’s initial three-year contract at Everton was due to expire in 2023, but he penned a new deal until 2024 last summer before heading out on loan. Reports from France claim the Blues could earn around €2 million from the deal.
Nkounkou, who registered six goals and claimed eight assists in 19 games for the French club during the second half of the campaign, has penned a deal at the Geoffroy-Guichard Stadium until the summer of 2026. And speaking last month, the France international hinted that he was likely to leave Everton this summer.
He said: "I would like to fix myself in a project, not to find myself in uncertainty every summer, without knowing where I will do the season.
"I would like to find stability somewhere. In recent years, I’ve moved a lot, I’ve scattered a bit, and now I want to settle down.
"When you know that at the end of the season, you will surely no longer be there, that you will return to a club where you do not know if you will be able to stay even if you fight, it makes you think. It’s not always easy to live with, whether for me or for my loved ones, who follow me every time."
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