An agreement has been reached with Frankfurt
Nice are closing in on a deal to bring Elye Wahi back. According to RMC Sport, the Riviera club and Eintracht Frankfurt struck an agreement on Friday for a new season-long loan. The news broke around midday, just hours before Ligue 1 resumes, with Nice heading into it without a proven No. 9.
The financial side is anything but simple. L’Equipe says it would be a paid loan with an option to buy worth more than 15 million euros, a clause Nice were not exactly keen to include in the first place. The striker’s contract with Frankfurt runs until 2030, which leaves the German club in a strong negotiating position.
There are still administrative details to sort out before the player is allowed to travel to France. Until the paperwork is signed off, the move remains provisional.
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Seven goals in 15 matches, and a telling final burst
Wahi knows the place. On loan there first in January last year, the Ivory Coast international scored 7 goals and added 1 assist in 15 Ligue 1 appearances. That’s roughly a goal every other start for a 23-year-old who had been going through a rough spell in the Bundesliga.
His absence in March through injury hit Nice hard in attack. His return lined up with the club’s best run of the season: two goals in the 2-0 win over Strasbourg, one at Angers in a 2-0 victory, then another brace in the play-off against Saint-Etienne, which ended 4-1. Five goals in the biggest games. Not bad timing.
He has made only five appearances for Ivory Coast so far. That total should rise if this season goes anything like the last one.
A transfer window built on reclaiming players
Money has shaped Nice’s business since the market opened. The club have gone after players on free transfers: Gauthier Hein, Laurent Abergel, who was badly injured in pre-season, and the experienced Axel Witsel all arrived without fees. Only Nathan Ngoumou cost a fee, with Nice paying 1.8 million euros to prise him from Monchengladbach.
In that context, a loan move for a striker who already knows the dressing room ticks plenty of boxes. The question is how long Nice can keep pulling off this kind of deal without ever making the option permanent.
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