The British multinational INEOS wants to make a mark in Ligue 1. The petrochemical company that owns Team INEOS, one of the groups that ‘commands’ the pack, and an important shareholder of the Mercedes-Benz team, dominator of Formula 1 in recent years with Lewis Hamilton, bought Nice in the summer of 2019 with the goal of making it ‘big’. “Our goal is to be in the Champions League in three to five years. We want to compete with PSG, Lyon and the other clubs in France. It is a great challenge and we will not achieve it just by spending money,” said Bob Ratcliffe, son of Jim Ratcliffe, owner of INEOS, and responsible for their investments in football. A challenge that this season they are closer to achieving: they are second in the Ligue 1 with two points and one game more than Olympique Marseille.
The Galtier Factor
Nice, four-time league champions in the 1950s, have not won a title since lifting their third Coupe in 1997. They want to win again and to do so they have chosen a ‘winner’ for their bench. “They have a colossal project. INEOS wins wherever it goes. They are part of the best team in Formula 1, they are present on the fastest boats and they have the best cycling team. This club meets the conditions to grow and achieve important things”, Christophe Galtier warned in the summer in ‘L’Equipe’ that after breaking PSG’s dominance by winning Ligue 1 with Lille in 2020-21 he went to the Côte d’Azur A movement that seemed like a ‘slump’ at first… but which has become a success.
Third time… be the charm?
With PSG escaping from the lead, Nice is second, 11 points behind Messi, Mbapp, Neymar and company. After two seasons with INEOS and some ups and downs (they were fifth in 2019-20 under Patrick Vieira and ninth last year in a course that Adrian Ursea ended as coach after the dismissal in December of the former Arsenal player), this campaign they are on the way of meet the goal set by the owners: play the Champions League.
“We made some mistakes in Lausanne (they are also owners of the Swiss Super League club), but we learn fast. The mistakes have been corrected and we are already seeing the benefits. The clubs need to be successful both on and off the pitch and at Nice we don’t It will be different. We will seek to strengthen the team in all aspects in the coming years. Patience is also important and the work we will do here will be built on solid foundations. We have a plan in place and we will follow it. We will not spend the money foolishly. With sensible and measured investment, we will turn Nice into a club that competes regularly in Europe.“, assured Jim Ratcliffe. A road map that in the market is more than defined.
How does Nice record?
Since 2019-20, the Nice has spent 129.4 million euros on transfers. Only PSG (246.5), Rennes (208.1), Lyon (165.7) and Lille (159.3) exceed their spending in Ligue 1. Some additions that are almost all cut from the same cloth. Most of his purchases are from young and promising soccer players. The first summer Dolberg (21 years old at the time), Claude-Maurice (21), Nsoki (20), Boudaoui (19) and Khphren Thuram (18) arrived. In 2020-21 they brought in Bambu (22), Lotomba (21), Gouiri (20), Da Cunha (19)… and the transfers of Reine-Adelaide (22), Saliba (20) and Todibo (21) . And this campaign they have bought the central defender from Barcelona and have acquired Stengs (22), Rosario (25), Bard (21), Justin Kluviert (22)… Along with other pieces with more experience such as Delort, Lemina or Amavi they have built a solid block in this market that is working in this Ligue 1.
The arrival of INEOS allows us to keep our best players. At another time, they would have already been sold to Gouiri, Dolberg or Thuram.
“The arrival of INEOS allows us to keep our best players. At another time, they would have already been sold to Gouiri, Dolberg or Thuram. The real difference is in our ability to keep the best so that we can be competitive in the long term”, explained Julien Fournier, sporting director of a Nice team who works closely with Galtier in the preparation of the squad: “We talk a lot about the style of game. A coach needs to have faith in his coach and in his team and be sure that we have understood the type of profiles he wants.”
Defensive security and Gouiri
“Our strength is that we are very difficult to beat,” proclaims Galtier. In the areas, Nice has become strong. They are the fifth highest scoring team (36 goals scored) in Ligue 1 and the second least scored (18). Only Marseille has conceded less (16). Walter Bentez is safe between the sticks and the pair of central defenders formed by Todibo and the very veteran (38 years old) Dante works. And up, Gouiri (10 goals and seven assists) has become one of the stars of Ligue 1 and he is on his way to surpassing the 12 goals and the seven ‘gifts’ from last year.
“He’s still learning. He’s young, but he has great qualities and my full confidence,” Galtier said. Supported by Delort (eight goals in the League) and Dolberg (six), Gouiri is being the ‘most devastating weapon’ of a Nice team that has pearls in all the lines. Rosario, Boudaoui and Thuram rule in midfield with their physical power supported by Lemina and Schneiderlin. Stengs, Kluivert and Claude-Maurice break down the flanks with their skill and Bard and Lotomba shine on the wings complemented by more experienced players like Amavi. A perfect mix with which Nice have won in each of the last five games. Best streak since 2016-17, when they chained six wins in a row with Lucien Favre on the bench and Balotelli as number ‘9’. A campaign that finished third and that is the mirror in which to look at oneself. They are close to that team: only their 49 points after 22 games back then exceed the current 42.
Without defeats against the ‘big’ and lethal outside
“I am focused on opening a gap with other teams before the direct duels arrive. If you want to be at the top you must win because the others do. And I tell the players all the time. We must get the maximum possible points and be extremely demanding We are a young team without experience in competing with the big ones and from the coaching staff we try to transmit that energy to them”, Galtier pointed out after his last victory (0-2) in Metz. Another duel in which they wreaked havoc away from home.
No team in the French League this season has bettered its 25 points and eight wins away from Allianz Riviera. They have equaled their record for foreign wins in one season (eight also in 1972-73, 2016-17 and 2020-21) being unbeatable against the ‘coconuts’. For now, they have not fallen to any ‘big’: They thrashed champion Lille (0-4), beat Lyon (3-2) and tied with Monaco (2-2), Marseille (1-1) and at PSG (0-0). They are the sensation of the squad and want to escape in Ligue 1. They are looking for the ‘yellow jersey’.
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Nice seeks the ‘yellow jersey’ with INEOS: “We want to compete with PSG”