OGC Nice President Jean-Pierre Rivère has aimed a not so subtle dig at Newcastle United and Allan Saint-Maximin when discussing a potential move away for star man Youcef Atal.
Newcastle have not been linked with a move for the highly-rated right-back, however the Ligue 1 chief appears to have some bitterness towards the club after our recent move for ex-Nice winger Allan Saint-Maximin.
Here’s what he’s had to say, stating his star players will either be kept or sold to top clubs when the time is right – not to ‘Newcastle or clubs like that’:
“He will not leave this winter. And I will even tell you, it is not anticipated that he will leave next summer.
“Our aim is to bring in talented youngsters, grow them, improve them. And without lacking respect for anyone, it is not to then sell them to Newcastle or clubs like that, no, we keep them with us.
“Aside from that, if one day clubs like Real Madrid or Bayern Munich come, then it will be difficult to keep them.
“But aim is not to be adopting a policy of trading players around.”
In other words, he doesn’t feel like Newcastle is a desirable enough destination for Nice’s better players – and in turn is insulting Saint-Maximin’s move to St James’ Park as a result.
Britain’s richest man Jim Ratcliffe may have recently completed a takeover with the French side, giving them some exciting hope for the future, however they’ll need to be doing better than 9th in Ligue 1 if they plan to be so confident of keeping their best players.
