According to our information, Arnaud Pouille, the president of the Breton club, and Fabrice Bocquet, the Nice general manager, closed the deal this Sunday at the end of the day around a loan of the 29-year-old player until the end of the season, with a non-obligatory purchase option, the amount of which has not been filtered.
The idea was initiated by the sporting director of the Riviera club, Florian Maurice, who knows Santamaria perfectly having recruited him from Friborg and for 14 million euros in 2021, when he was stationed in Rennes.
A midfielder to compensate for Rosario's calf injury
Arriving in Brittany in 2021, Baptiste Santamaria was recently removed from the Breton group in training by coach Jorge Sampaoli.
Le Gym lost Pablo Rosario to injury on Friday during its defeat at Lille (2-1). Replaced before the quarter of an hour of play, the Dutchman would be the victim of a calf relapse which could sideline him for several weeks from the field. With Tanguy Ndombele gritting his teeth because of pubalgia, OGC Nice needed to quickly strengthen in midfield. It is therefore done with Baptiste Santamaria, an experienced player with more than 200 matches in Ligue 1 played with Angers and Rennes, and around twenty appearances in European competitions.
