A Nice since signing his contract a week ago, Maxime Le Marchand was officially presented this Friday afternoon at the OGC Nice store. He is the third summer recruit for the Gym, following the arrivals of Hatem Ben Arfa and Jean-Michaël Seri.
Trained at Rennes, where he spent nine years and developed all his skills, Maxime Le Marchand signed with Le Havre on loan in 2009, without having played a single Ligue 1 match. Permanently transferred to Le Havre the following year, he became an indispensable part of the team and even took over the captain’s armband in 2013, a sign of maturity and character according to the Nice coach.
At 25, it’s time for him to discover the elite of French football. “I come from Ligue 2. It’s somewhat of a promotion for me to arrive in Ligue 1, but it’s not an end goal. I still need to step up my game, and the experience of my teammates and the coach will be beneficial in that regard,” he proudly states.
However, Maxime Le Marchand is not just coming to learn. He brings with him his technical skills and excellent passing ability, which is a real asset for the central defense of the Aiglons, completed by the two strong players Mathieu Bodmer and Romain Genevois. A player with a left foot, something lacking in Nice’s defense (only Amavi and Gomis are left-footed).
A different profile welcomed by the Aiglons coach Claude Puel: “His skills in anticipation, reading the game, and passing are interesting in the complementarity that can exist with Romain or Mathieu. Romain is a soldier. Maxime still needs to learn positive aggression and combat.”
If Le Marchand’s style fit so well with Nice’s needs, it’s not by chance. “We have a recruitment cell that works all year round. The arrivals are thoroughly thought out in advance. It’s because we have been monitoring these players for a long time that we moved quickly at the beginning of the transfer window,” recalls president Jean-Pierre Rivère.
The Breton by origin, adopted by Normandy, is now eagerly awaiting his first steps at the Allianz Riviera, “a magnificent stadium” according to his words. We’ll have to wait until Saturday, August 8th, for the Côte d’Azur derby against AS Monaco.
Photo credit and more information on www.ogcnice.com
Nicolas Comelli
