Russian Premier League giants Zenit St. Petersburg are on the brink of signing Lyon centre-back Emanuel Mammana, reports Le Dauphine.
Lyon currently have too many players competing for two centre-back positions following the arrival of Marcelo from Besiktas and will be forced to sell at least one defender before the transfer window shuts.
Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa was expected to be the first to leave but it has now transpired that Mammana is on track to join Zenit in a deal worth €16m (£14.3m).
It means that Lyon will more than double their investment in the space of 12 months after signing the 21-year-old from River Plate last summer, but comes as a huge surprise given his potential.
Zenit have already signed Argentinean duo Leandro Paredes and Sebastian Driussi this summer and Roberto Mancini will soon have a third, forming a complete South American spine to the team.
Of the 187 players aged 21 and under in Europe’s top five leagues that made at least 15 appearances last season, only three had a better pass success rate than Mammana (91.2%).
