Yann M’Vila is likely to join Arsenal or Real Madrid next year, according to his Rennes team-mate and friend Kader Mangane.
M’Vila was the subject of four bids "of around €30 million [£26m]" from Champions League clubs including Arsenal during last summer, according to Rennes.
Mangane believes it is inevitable that the highly coveted defensive midfielder will be sold by the Ligue 1 club in the next 12 months.
“There has been no decision taken so far,” Mangane told Goal.com of M’Vila’s future. “He might go to England but he also likes the Spanish league. I don’t think he will leave in January but I think he will join Real Madrid or Arsenal next summer.
“The top clubs are right to scout him as I see him with a big career in front of him. Yann has the potential to be one of the biggest players in the world. He has extraordinary abilities.”
Mangane, who has been converted from a midfielder to a centre-half during his three years at Rennes, has watched M’Vila, 21, come through the ranks into the first team.
“You can see he is a fantastic player from what he does in training,” explained the 28-year-old. “Yann is good enough to play anywhere in the world. He is a complete player. He has a good eye for the game, he is technically excellent and he is also very good at defending and regaining balls.”
Mangane will take a break from domestic football in the new year to concentrate on the Africa Cup of Nations, where he does not consider his Senegal to be one of the most fancied teams.
“We are the outsiders,” he said. “Teams like Ghana and the Ivory Coast are certainly the favourites, especially because Cameroon have not qualified.
“Ghana played well in the last World Cup and last Africa Cup of Nations, so you expect them to play well next year. In terms of individual players, Ivory Coast are quite strong with a lot of players playing at top European clubs.
“They have big players like [Didier] Drogba and Yaya Toure, Ghana have [Asamoah] Gyan and we have Demba Ba.”
Mangane admits that the current Senegal team is not as strong as their 2002 predecessors, who reached the World Cup quarter-finals and were runners-up in the Africa Cup of Nations.
“They are two different generations,” he said. “In 2002, Senegal had a team that made the whole country sit up and watch their performance. We have a young team now with some really strong players and we are going to try and match what they did.”
Ba has been on fire following his summer move to Newcastle United, scoring eight goals in his last seven Premier League games, including hat-tricks against Stoke City and Blackburn Rovers.
Mangane explained: “For me, it is not a surprise that he is playing at a really high level. In the last few years he had a lot of injuries but now that he has avoided injury and is back close to 100 per cent, he has shown that he is an amazing player in terms of quality and technique.
“He has a physical presence, protects the ball very well, has a very good shot and is incredibly good in the penalty box at getting on the end of crosses.”
Mangane also praised the professionalism of his international colleague, saying: “He takes his job seriously and is a serious guy. He likes to stay with his family and concentrate on his football. It doesn’t mean that he isn’t fun but he works hard and is serious about what he is doing.”
Originally Posted by Master Splinter
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