The Azzurri club is exploring Italy to find a contender for Melvin Bard.
Last season, the left-back position was a tough challenge for the Gym. Melvin Bard was recruited a year ago, Hassane Kamara left during the winter, prompting the return of Jordan Amavi on loan. The Marseille native only played a few times (8 appearances) due to an injury and average performances. The Nice sports management decided not to retain the Toulon native.
Although Melvin Bard covered nearly all the matches with impressive performances, the French under-21 international absolutely needs to be accompanied by another player in his position.
The name of Ecuadorian Pervis Estupiñán, a Champions League semi-finalist with Villarreal last year, was mentioned, but the player seems out of reach for Nice. OGC Nice has shown interest in another player, with a completely different profile: Fabiano Parisi.
Fabiano Parisi is a 21-year-old Italian under-21 international (5 caps). Born in Solofra near Naples, he was trained at Avellino before moving to Empoli in 2020. From his arrival in Tuscany, he showed great promise in Serie B, playing 20 matches with 1 goal and 2 assists. With Empoli’s promotion to Serie A last year, Parisi continued to progress in the top division (25 matches with 1 assist), attracting interest from Naples and Juventus.
The interest of Nice for the defender was revealed by journalist Fabrice Hawkins 10 days ago. The RTL journalist also mentioned that OGC Nice was following another Empoli defender: center-back Mattia Viti. It should be noted that Hawkins also predicted the arrival of Rares Ilie.
Nevertheless, the Gym seems to first focus its efforts on Parisi, the defender is considered less expensive. As indicated by the Twitter account @empoli_fr, the Italian club has purchased New Zealand international Liberato Cacace in anticipation of the full-back’s departure.
A few days ago, OGC Nice launched an offensive to secure the 21-year-old player. It was Italian journalist Nicolò Schira who announced the beginning of negotiations between the Azzurri club and the club from the suburbs of Florence.
The full-back is valued at 4.5 million, but Empoli is reportedly asking for around 10 million euros to release him.
