‘His body will give us the answer’ – when will Dante make his OGC Nice return? | OneFootball

It looks to have been one season too far for Dante (42), who has featured sparingly so far during the current campaign and who has not featured at all since the end of November.

He won’t return against Toulouse FC this weekend either, with the Brazilian still yet to fully return to first-team training. The former Bayern Munich defender has been suffering with issues in both of his knees throughout the campaign.

In the summer, amid talk of retirement, he extended his deal at Nice for a further year. His season is the subject of a documentary on Ligue 1 Plus called “The Last Dante”. But the next scene to be shot on a football pitch may still be some way away. 

Claude Puel provided an update on Dante’s fitness in a press conference attended by Get French Football News. “He is making progress every day. He is on his way back, but in terms of telling you when he will be back in the squad, competitive and able to play, his body will give us the answer. There will be a question of rhythm that he will have to get back. What is important is for him to do training sessions back-to-back, so that he can become competitive in the group again,” said the Nice manager.

GFFN | Luke Entwistle – reporting from Nice