AS Saint-Etienne : The good transfer window for Saint-Etienne: M’Bala Nzola | ASSE News

Unable to win a single match for six days in the league, Saint-Étienne finds himself adrift in the standings (16th), a place unworthy of his status. 17th elite attack, the Forez club would do well to turn, a few days before the end of the winter transfer window, to a very talented center forward: M’Bala Nzola, center forward of La Spezia.

In a sphere where the various actors of the mercato planet fuel rumors and speculations, 90min attempts to link the rational to the relevant, by offering attractive alternatives to clubs in search of reinforcements. Today, we are devoting our column to an opportunity to be seized for AS Saint-Étienne: M’Bala Nzola.

At 24, M’Bala Nzola is a real revelation on the other side of the Alps. He who has never won in France left, after a start of his career in Portugal, to do his ranges in Italian Serie B and Serie C stables (Virtus, Carpi, Trapani).

Before knowing last year, a historic rise with the club of La Spezia, which acceded to the Italian first division for the first time in 124 years of history.

If the club (14th) is in the process of delivering a real showdown in the fight for maintenance against more experienced teams (Torino, Genoa, Udinese), it owes it largely to the efficiency of its attacker, author of 9 goals in 13 Serie A matches, a third of his team’s goals.

Long top scorer in the four major leagues (Spain, England, Italy, Germany) this season, Nzola was only overtaken this weekend by the stainless Karim Benzema, author of a double (10 goals in total in La Liga ).

Van Wolfwsinkel, Beric, Soderlund, Diony … Since the departure of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in 2013, Saint-Étienne has gone on flops as a center-forward. Casting errors, long-term injuries, the impact of number 9 is still not resolved this season: by replacing midfielders (Khazri, 1 goal in 9 matches; Bouanga, 3 goals in 20 matches), Claude Puel is sees forced to tinker, and its players struggle terribly to find alternatives in their offensive animation.

If the Greens have won only one match in the last 18 days, they owe it in large part to their offensive ineffectiveness, they who have only found the net 20 times in 21 days. The arrival of M’Bala Nzola, formidable fox of surfaces, would be the assurance of a better presence in the opposing surface.

Today, ASSE does not have a real center-forward. Aouchiche, Bouanga, Khazri … Claude Puel is, in his scarcity of manpower, obliged to use false numbers 9 in attack, rather placed in a role of advanced leader. And without a presence near the opposing goals, inevitably, the danger is only very rarely created.

With M’Bala Nzola, ASSE would have a racy striker, robust attacker (1.85m, 82 kg), efficient with the head, and who does not demerit in his technical capacity to eliminate. Even less in generosity in repeating efforts, especially getting used to one of the most physically tough football in Europe. Yes, Nzola could bring a lot of impact to the fallout of crosses and in the use of depth (and that’s the height for a scorer).

Today, the whole of France can bite its fingers. Because before being offered a new contract with La Spezia, where he had been loaned six months, M’Bala Nzola was offered to several French clubs in the summer of 2020. For a free transfer. Toulouse, Dijon, Angers, Bordeaux … and Saint-Étienne had declined the offer.

Today, the cost of the former youngster of ESTAC amounts to around 10 million €. Fulham would have put that figure on the table at La Spezia at the end of last week, according to TMW. With a sudden return to lukewarm water in the offseason, due to the deficit created by the period of health crisis, the management of ASSE no longer really seeks to put the high price on the market.

But to give itself every chance of remaining in the elite, the most successful club in France must strengthen itself for this second part of the season. After all, Mbala N’Zola’s explosion is still uncertain, but its value could still swell. The Franco-Angolan still has, at 24, a big margin for improvement.

And what he would like above all, is to express his talent on French soil. Didn’t Saint-Étienne bail out enough with the departures of Saliba (€ 29m) and Fofana (€ 35m) in the offseason? For us, the Greens must imperatively put the price on the tricolor striker. He could really change the face of a team that doesn’t even have a real number 9 this season.