There are worse places in the world to pitch up in your football journey – and OGC Nice has this season become something of a ‘Riviera Rovers’ in Ligue 1 of players who have either left the Premier League for good, or accepted temporary assignments on the Cote D’Azur.
Former England, Everton and Chelsea star Ross Barkley arrived recently after seeing his contract at Stamford Bridge ripped up – and may feel quite at home strutting his stuff on the Promenade Des Anglais, as well as in the Allianz Riviera Stadium. But the contingent familiar to UK fans and viewers come from all over the place.
Barkley’s compatriot Joe Bryan is on loan from Fulham having seen himself edged out of the picture at Craven Cottage, and another loanee is Arsenal’s Ivory Coast forward Nicolas Pepe – something of a £72million misfit at The Emirates.
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Wales talisman Aaron Ramsey, bound for the World Cup with Wales in November, has signed up for the club owned by chemicals giant Ineos after his spell at Juventus and loan stint at Rangers. And after 11 years at Leicester that saw him win a Premier League winner’s medal, Denmark’s Kasper Schmeichel arrived at the start of August, a couple of days after Ramsey.
France’s Morgan Schneiderlin, formerly of Southampton, Manchester United and Everton, had already been there since the summer of 2020. And he and the rest were also joined this year by Brentford’s Danish defender Mads Bech Sorensen on loan, and another former Saint in Gabon’s Mario Lemina.
It was certainly an eventful debut for the 28-year-old Barkley on Sunday as the Lucien Favre-coached Nice travelled to Corsica to take on rock-bottom Ajaccio. The midfielder came on 20 minutes from the end for Andy Delort, the Algerian striker that had earlier scored what proved to be the winner in a 1-0 victory that lifted ‘The Eagles’ into mid-table.
🔄 The England international replaces the goal scorer @AndyDelort9, and @hicham_boudaoui comes on in place of Alexis Beka Beka
#ACAOGCN (0-1, 70') #OGCNice
Within 60 secs Barkley had hit a post from distance. He then teed up Gaetan Laborde, Sofiane Diop, and then Pepe who also hit the post. Then there was a fierce shot just over before Barkley was booked for a bad foul. But his creative cameo had the Nice fans drooling.
Barkley, admitting that Ineos’s mega-wealthy British owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe and the company’s director of sport and cycling supremo Sir Dave Brailsford had played a part in his switch to France, said: “Nice is an ambitious club. They presented me with a project over multiple years. It is a club that wants to go far, that wants to be a big club at a European level.
“I managed to speak with Sir Dave Brailsford, who showed me the growth project at the club. Sir Jim Ratcliffe also convinced me to come here to help the team progress.
“I was also convinced by the coach, who is a big European-level coach, and who plays an attacking style of football. I have seen his former sides play and it’s something that guided my choice.
“Nice are a big club with a big history, that has won titles, that has qualified for European football numerous times in the past seasons, and that was a finalist in last year’s Coupe de France. There is also a super, passionate fanbase. I am very excited to play here.”
There is no doubt that Barkley and the rest have joined an ambitious organisation that is keen to try and reduce the gap to the likes of Paris Saint Germain and Marseilles, both currently unbeaten after seven games and joint-top of the table.
But it may take time to emulate the most glorious days of the club in the 1950s, when they claimed all four of their French league title triumphs. Slightly more recently they finished runners-up in 1976, and won the last of their three French Cups in 1997.
After making his own move, Schmeichel said: “I wanted to keep progressing and keep growing as a person, as a player and to get out of my comfort zone, try something completely different, something completely new..
“I'm very excited to be joining Nice. I think it's a really interesting project and it's something I'm really looking forward to. I wouldn't have come here if I didn't think we would have an opportunity to compete in the Champions League.
“I think with the ambition of the club and the backing of the club, there's a great chance to go and do some really interesting things. I think we've got a very, very good season ahead of us.”
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