OGC Nice: the market update of the week

This week, the summer transfer window officially opened in France. It’s time for several weeks of negotiations, compromises, major decisions, sales and also purchases for OGC Nice. Every Sunday will be an opportunity for us to review the latest transfer market news for the Eagles.

OGC Nice finally starts its big summer project! And it started strong, with the arrival of the main piece: the appointment of Olivier Pantaloni, this Thursday, as head coach of the Gym. The coach – who should be followed by Geoffrey Moncada as sporting director of the Eagles – succeeds Claude Puel, who returned successfully to the club at the beginning of the year to play firefighter. “I arrive at Nice with great humility but also great determination. I want to respect the club. I will transmit the values that are mine: humility, work, respect, determination and ambition”, said the main interested party in an interview published on the red and black website. After a difficult season, the Gym is restructuring itself, little by little.

Around him, Olivier Pantaloni should not arrive with an assistant, as had been leaked in recent days. To build his staff, the former FC Lorient coach should rely on local solutions, such as Cédric Varrault or Frédéric Gioria. Present in Lucien Favre’s staff, the latter had completely disappeared from circulation after the arrival of Franck Haise on the Côte d’Azur. Clément Grenier or Romain Pitau could be chosen to occupy the position of assistant coach to the Corsican tactician. Nothing was yet completely settled when Pantaloni’s arrival was made official on Thursday.

Vanhoutte, Boudache and Boga leave OGC Nice

In parallel with this, the Gym continues to reduce its workforce and look for exits for its “undesirables”. In recent days, the Nice club has confirmed no less than three departures, with the transfer market having been officially open for only a few days. First, OGC Nice confirmed the departure of Jérémie Boga. On loan since the beginning of the year, the Ivorian international will remain with Juventus Turin, who exercised their purchase option. The outcome was no longer in doubt after the end of the difficult story between the winger and Nice. The same scenario is expected for Terem Moffi.

The same day, Olympique Lyonnais announced the arrival of Kaïl Boudache. Despite intense negotiations until the last minute, the young Eagle will not turn professional at OGC Nice and favored OL to take the plunge. A real blow for the Gym which loses one of its biggest prospects from its training center in recent years. The young winger had even distinguished himself this season with the Nice side, like his goal in the second leg playoff against AS Saint-Étienne.

Finally, OGC Nice confirmed the departure of Charles Vanhoutte, just one year after his arrival at Allianz Riviera. The Belgian midfielder could nevertheless boast of being one of the few positive individual notes of the last red and black season. After a good start, the number 24 of the Eagles gradually lost his place, before settling for a small role in rotation under Claude Puel. He will continue his career in Rotterdam, under the colors of Feyenoord, where he will have the opportunity to play in the Champions League next season. In the operation, the Gym would recover roughly the same amount it had spent last summer to snatch him from his club, Union Saint-Gilloise.