OGC Nice provide update on INEOS’ sale of Ligue 1 club | OneFootball

Going into the summer, there is a lot of uncertainty around OGC Nice. For starters, it is unclear whether the club will even be in Ligue 1. With seven games to go, they sit five points ahead of AJ Auxerre, who occupy the relegation playoff spot. Nice have to face L’AJA before the end of the campaign.

Then there is the question of the manager. Claude Puel came in on an interim basis in order to stave off relegation. He is expected to depart at the end of his mandate, although there is the possibility that he remains on the bench beyond the end of the campaign. Sporting director Florian Maurice is “highly likely” to depart, L’Équipe understands. Many of the players, especially those that retain the highest market value, are touted to leave, as will the co-presidents Jean-Pierre Rivere and Maurice Cohen. Like Puel, both arrived mid-season on a “mission” to prevent Nice from dropping into Ligue 2.

Rivere speaks of ‘significant losses’ at Nice

The pair have recently also evoked the club’s sale. Since purchasing a minority share at Manchester United, INEOS have been looking to sell the Ligue 1 side. “There is currently a bank that is taking care of [the sale],” Rivere recently told Nice-Matin. 

He added, “They are taking care of that. I am a bit outside it all. Maybe INEOS will still be here for a few years, maybe there will be a sale. I don’t know. What is certain is that it is INEOS who are covering the club’s losses every year, and they are significant.” Not exactly the best sales pitch to any prospective buyer. 

Speaking on BFM, Cohen added, “We know that Nice are for sale through Lazard (bank), who perhaps have had talks, but we aren’t informed on what is happening. We haven’t had any official communication. If someone bought the club, it would be to either do better (than INEOS have) or to stabilise the club.”

GFFN | Luke Entwistle