This Monday evening marked the closure of the winter transfer window in France. We’ll summarize all the operations carried out by the Gym over the past month.
OGC Nice can no longer strengthen its squad for the rest of the 2024/2025 season. This Monday evening, the winter transfer window closed for both departures and arrivals. Professional clubs had until 11 PM last night to finalize their last deals. Once this deadline was exceeded, no new transactions could be made official.
Baptiste Santamaria, the only new Aiglon
During the month of January, the Gym remained relatively quiet. The only addition to the team was Baptiste Santamaria, who joined the French Riviera. The Aiglons took advantage of the player’s unfavorable situation, being sidelined at Rennes, to make a very attractive deal. According to L’Equipe, the midfielder is on loan with a purchase option set at €2M.
Moreover, Stade Rennais reportedly agreed to cover half of Santamaria’s salary. This is a great deal for a player with over a hundred Ligue 1 matches under his belt. The club’s management also considered bolstering their defense but ultimately decided against it. The return from injury of several key players in this area (Dante, Youssouf Ndayishimiye, Moïse Bombito) served as an internal solution.
Exits for players with limited game time
In the last month, the Nice team was also active in finding exit opportunities for players who were little or not utilized by Franck Haise in the first part of the season. Having appeared only twice, Rares Ilie has moved to US Catanzaro (Serie B). The Romanian midfielder is on loan with an option to buy in Italy.
Issiaga Camara is heading to Dijon (National). The young midfielder is on loan, without a purchase option, until the end of the season. This move should allow him to gain more playing time with the Dijon squad. Finally, Aliou Baldé is also changing clubs. Initially loaned to Bochum, the winger will finish the season with Lausanne. It’s a return to familiar ground for him, rejoining his former team.