SENEGAL MIDFIELDER IDRISSA Gana Gueye left Paris Saint-Germain and returned to former club Everton on transfer deadline day on Thursday, as the French champions continued to offload unwanted members of their squad.

Gueye, 32, signed for Everton for an undisclosed fee and has penned a two-year contract to June 2024, the Premier League side said.

French media reports said PSG could expect to receive a fee in the region of €10 million (£8.6m).

“There is no better feeling than coming back home,” Gana told Everton’s website. “I am very happy to be here at Everton again, to help and to work hard. I’ll give my soul to this team…

“For me, it’s special. I told PSG if I am going to leave it will be for one team – and that was Everton.

“It was not a difficult decision for me because I love this club. That’s why I had to come home. It’s a pleasure for me to be back and hopefully we will have a good season because we have to go and try to achieve our goals.”

Gueye previously spent three years at Everton before moving to PSG in 2019 for a reported £30 million.

The former Lille and Aston Villa player notably won two Ligue 1 titles in Paris, and also featured on their run to the Champions League final in 2020.

Gueye made 34 appearances last season but was one of several PSG players frozen out since the appointment of Christophe Galtier as coach in July.

PSG have been eager to reduce their wage bill to leave more room for new signings while also respecting Uefa’s financial sustainability regulations.

German international midfielder Julian Draxler has departed the French capital to join Portuguese giants Benfica on loan until the end of the season.

PSG had been desperately seeking to find a taker for the 28-year-old who cost a reported €36 million plus add-ons when signed from Wolfsburg in January 2017.

Gueye’s Senegal international teammate Abou Diallo, 26, has also left PSG, in his case to return to the Bundesliga to join RB Leipzig on loan.

The German club have an option to make the deal permanent at the end of the campaign.

Centre-back Diallo, who can also play as a left-back, joined PSG at the same time as Gueye in 2019, costing €32 million from Borussia Dortmund.

Also leaving PSG on Thursday was Layvin Kurzawa, with the left-back moving to the Premier League to join Fulham on loan until the end of the season.

Former Monaco star Kurzawa, 29, has won 13 caps for France but has not played for PSG since August last year.

– © AFP 2022