Nice thought this one was finished
Terms were agreed. Foot Mercato reported late in the afternoon that Niels Nkounkou had already settled personal terms with Les Aiglons, and then Celtic arrived, pushing hard to take the French left-back to Glasgow instead.
Nkounkou is 25 and his CV reads like a European tour. Marseille academy, a loan at Torino last season, and now on Eintracht Frankfurt’s books. Two things stand out from a path like that: clubs keep coming back for him, and he has never really settled anywhere.
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The domino Nice were counting on
Their interest was never standalone. Nice lined up Nkounkou to cover the likely departure of Melvin Bard, who is being courted by Coventry. One move hinged on the other, which is how late August usually works, right up until somebody spots the gap and jumps through it. Celtic have done exactly that.
The Aiglons arrive at this point off a weekend they would happily delete, beaten 3-0 by Paris FC. Left-back is not the only hole in the squad. It is the one with the most uncertainty attached with 48 hours on the clock.
What Glasgow can put on the table
Celtic cannot compete with Premier League wages. They can offer something Nice cannot this season: European football of real weight, with a Champions League campaign on the horizon. A 25-year-old chasing minutes and a bigger stage will listen to that.
None of it is signed. An agreement with the player is not an agreement with Frankfurt, and the Germans still control the fee. Nice, who believed their cover was locked in, are now fighting for a spot they had already ticked off. Two days to sort it.
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