According to the Daily Mail, Manchester City and Chelsea are going head-to-head for Olympique Lyonnais defender Mouctar Diakhaby. The 20-year-old has made four Ligue 1 appearances this season and could be set for a bright future.
Diakhaby played in both Europa League meetings with Everton in October and November, helping Lyon to two victories and just one goal conceded. The French u21 international, who has represented his country five times at youth level, could be inundated with offers in the January transfer window.
Both City and Chelsea are believed to be bolstering their defensive options and could make a bid for Diakhaby as a result. City are currently eight points clear at the top of the Premier League table and would be an attractive proposition for the centre-back.
The Sky Blues have the likes of John Stones, Nicolas Otamendi, Eliaquim Mangala and Vincent Kompany as options at the heart of the backline, but only Stones and Otamendi are deemed to have long-term futures due to Mangala being out-of-favour and Kompany having so many injury problems. They could benefit from signing Diakhaby.
As for Chelsea, the Londoners have Kurt Zouma (out on loan), David Luiz, Gary Cahill, Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen at centre-back, but Luiz has fallen out with manager Antonio Conte, meaning there may be a void for the Lyon man to fill.
After appearing in the UEFA Youth League in 2015/16, the 20-year-old broke into the Lyon first-team a season later and made 22 league appearances.
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