The French centre back had been linked with moves to Barcelona and Manchester City in recent weeks but it now appears that he will remain in Portugal with Porto.
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Porto centre back Eliaquim Mangala has announced his intention to remain with the Portuguese club, despite reported interest in his services from Barcelona and Manchester City, Goal.com reports.
City were especially interested in signing Mangala, with manager Manuel Pellegrini wanting to strengthen his defensive options following injuries to first choice centre backs Vincent Kompany and Matija Nastastic.
The Sky Blues were willing to pay £30 million for Mangala, although that fee is someway short of the Frenchman’s £38 million buy-out fee.
Despite the interest in his signature, Mangala says he expects to still be with Porto after Monday’s transfer deadline.
“I will not leave FC Porto,” Mangala told O Jogo. “On September 11 [after international duty with France] I’m back.”
Mangala is regarded as one of the best young centre backs in Europe and many clubs were thought to considering a move for the player.
However, Porto have made it clear all summer that an interested club would have to pay £38 million in order to land Mangala and it appears that the Frenchman never had any intention of trying to engineer a move away from the Estadio de Dragao.