Porto defender Eliaquim Mangala has been subject to a number of transfer rumours of late, so with Chelsea and Manchester City reportedly interested, here's a look at why Premier League clubs are so ready to sign him.

Born in Paris, Mangala’s talent was spotted very early on, he joined Athletic Club Lustin after moving to Namur, Belgium at the age of five. Six years later, he moved on to CS Wepionnais.

Soon later he joined the city’s biggest club, UR Namur. Here he was mostly used as a striker and good performances led to interest from Belgium giants Standard Liege.

After the Frenchman signed a 3-year youth contract with the the club in 2007, he began to improve the physical side of his game and he filtered down the field, eventually settling in the centre-back position.

He enjoyed a fruitful spell at Liege, winning the Belgian Pro League and the Belgian Cup whilst amassing 100 appearances. However his good performances encouraged interest from elsewhere, and he moved to Porto for 7.5 million euros in August 2011.

After struggling initially, Mangala improved massively by the summer of 2012 and managed to break into the first team in his second season at the club. 7 goals in 39 appearances in 2012-13 helped the Frenchman hold his own in Portugal and kept him in the side for this season.

After putting in some impressive performances for Porto, Mangala has earned two French international caps this season, and has been included in  Didier Deschamps’ squad for the World Cup in Brazil this summer.

Physical

Standing at 6ft 2inches, Mangala is a great athlete. He is both fast and strong, a rare combination of qualities for a centre-back.

This combination allows him to defend well against both a striker with a big build like Zlatan Ibrahimovic and a fast striker like Messi or Aguero. Thus, this combination is one of his major strengths.

He would fit in well at Chelsea, especially if they need to play the old ‘park the bus’ ploy again.

Despite his lack of experience, he is a good reader of the game. Along with this, he even shines technically with well-timed tackles.

Courtesy his height, he provides a good aerial strength and is quite useful in set pieces which could be of benefit to Manchester City. If Martin Demichelis is seeing the twilight days of career, Mangala would be the perfect partner for Vincent company in the future.

Versatility

However, he is can be error-prone. Likened to David Luiz by many, he has a habit of making forward runs to contribute to attacks.

At times, he unnecessarily fouls opponents to give away free kicks in dangerous areas.

Having played as both a fullback and a striker during his early days, Mangala is versatile and can even play in defensive midfield too if needs be.

He has a knack of getting at the end of crosses and heading them in and even scores a good number of goals from set-pieces courtesy his aerial dominance.

He has scored 12 goals in his last two seasons, a very impressive return for a centre-back.

ManCity News