OGC Nice: This week’s transfer update

OGC Nice is accelerating to finalize its squad in this last half of August. Like every Sunday, we summarize the latest transfer news from Gym. And this week, the Eagles may have sealed their third summer signing.

The long-feared verdict has come from OGC Nice: Laurent Abergel is suffering from an anterior cruciate ligament tear in his right knee. The exit due to injury of the midfielder – last weekend on Cagliari’s pitch (1-1) – had suggested the worst. He will be out for at least six months and will miss at least a large part of the 2026/27 season. For Gym, this is a huge loss with a player who was set to become one of the leaders in Olivier Pantaloni‘s dressing room. A sign that his adaptation had been rapid, the red and black professional squad hopes that Abergel can stay in touch with his teammates daily and will accompany them on league away trips, once he has undergone surgery.

This long-term injury forces OGC Nice to readapt. The Eagles are now aiming for reinforcement in midfield – a sector where Gym should also lose Hicham Boudaoui, who is set to leave – but resources remain limited. The Azur club is said to have already targeted Axel Witsel. The Belgian midfielder has the advantage of being a free agent following his departure from Girona last June. The experienced player (37 years old) is said to have reached a principle agreement with the Azur club and could thus compensate for the absence of Laurent Abergel to mentor Nice’s young talents. According to L’Équipe, a one-year proposal with another optional has already been put forward. The ball is now in the court of the player who competed in the 2026 World Cup this summer with his national team.

Elye Wahi, an impossible dream?

On the attacking front, while OGC Nice has sealed Kevin Carlos‘s departure to Cagliari, Gym is still looking for at least one new striker. The red and black dream remains the same: Elye Wahi‘s return. After six months of dreams on the Côte d’Azur, the Ivorian striker is not closing the door to a return to Allianz Riviera. Frankfurt will not be easy to convince, the German club is aiming for an outright transfer, which the Eagles cannot afford in this time of crisis and austerity. Roger Ricort and Nice’s management could favor a new loan in this matter and the coming hours/days are already shaping up to be decisive.

In parallel with Wahi, Gym has explored other options, such as Bamba Dieng. Already mentioned as being in OGC Nice’s sights in the past, the Senegalese international has been free since the end of his Lorient contract. Again, Ricort, Cohen and their team moved quickly on this matter. Before Ineos came to stick its nose in the deal and literally closed the door to the arrival of the striker at the club. According to several sources, the presence of several intermediaries in the negotiations discouraged the majority shareholder of OGC Nice.

In all this confusion, Nice is also securing its third summer signing. Barring an unlikely reversal of events, Nathan Ngoumou should become an Eagle. After four seasons at Borussia Mönchengladbach, the winger should undergo his medical examination on Monday at Nice’s facilities. No transfer fee should be paid: the former Toulouse training center player is coming off a blank season due to an Achilles tendon rupture that occurred in April 2025. In this deal, the Azur club would pay 10% on any future resale of the player to the German club.