Nice press on with wage cuts as high earners set for exits amid Ineos pullback | OneFootball

Nice are pushing on with wage cuts as the Ineos-owned club retrenches towards pre-takeover levels, and departures of top earners this summer would be welcomed.

According to L'Équipe, the likely lack of European football next season should aid that drive, because many contracts are indexed to continental participation. Nice face Strasbourg in a Coupe de France semi-final on 22 April, with Europe dependent on lifting the trophy.

With or without Europe, the summer brief is unchanged, to find exits for most of the highest earners, led by Sofiane Diop. Signed from Monaco for €22m in 2022, the 25-year-old attacking midfielder missed a move last year after groin surgery in late June 2025, and with one year left he now looks set to go.

Morgan Sanson, Hicham Boudaoui and Youssouf Ndayishimiye are also among the club’s best paid and, without extensions, will need to be sold to secure fees. Tanguy Ndombele will leave at the end of June, as will Dante, who earns €90,000 a month excluding bonuses.

Second on the pay list, Mohamed-Ali Cho, contracted to 2028, should also go, and Melvin Bard, also tied to 2028, could follow. Only Jonathan Clauss, extended by a year on the same salary to 2028, is assured to stay next season if the Aiglons, 15th in Ligue 1, stay up.

With TV income down and no fresh Ineos money, recruitment is far more modest. The club can still pay about six or seven million euros in fees, but the real squeeze is on wages, so a €200,000 monthly package for that profile is off the table and the payroll must keep shrinking.

No recent recruit exceeds €100,000 gross a month outside bonuses, bar Elye Wahi, on loan from Eintracht Frankfurt without an option after Moffi’s departure, with Nice covering more than half of his pay, around €200,000 of €340,000 monthly. Of last summer’s arrivals, only Charles Vanhoutte is in the top 10 earners, several others sit near €80,000, and Kojo Peprah Oppong is under €50,000. The average monthly gross salary is €98,000.

Source: L'Équipe