Elye Wahi returns to Nice for a full Ligue 1 season on loan

Elye Wahi has returned to OGC Nice from Eintracht Frankfurt on a season-long loan, extending a relationship that began with a productive six-month spell last season. Nice officially announced the agreement on Monday evening after the 23-year-old Ivory Coast international completed his medical. The deal includes a €1.5 million loan fee and an option to buy estimated at €15 million.

Wahi had already arrived back in the city on Sunday evening, when Nice supporters welcomed him at the airport. He is expected to be eligible for Nice’s Ligue 1 trip to Paris FC on Sunday at 15:00. Unlike last season, when the financial arrangements were more limited, Nice will now cover the striker’s entire salary during the loan.

The move required financial support from Nice’s shareholder, Ineos, and its owner, Jim Ratcliffe. Club president Maurice Cohen thanked Ratcliffe for his confidence and said the return had initially appeared impossible. Cohen also credited sporting director Roger Ricot and the club’s close discussions with its ownership for making the agreement possible.

Wahi’s first spell at Nice ran from January to June and produced nine goals and two assists in 19 appearances. He played 1,332 minutes, scored five times in Ligue 1 and helped the club through a difficult campaign. His contribution was central to Nice’s survival in the top flight and its run to the Coupe de France final, where the club eventually lost to Lens, another former side of the forward.

Several of Wahi’s most important contributions came in decisive matches. He scored twice in Nice’s 2-0 victory at Strasbourg on April 22, a result that carried the club into the Coupe de France final. On May 29, he added two more goals in the 4-1 playoff second leg against Saint-Etienne, helping Nice retain its place in the French top flight.

The return also represents a sharp change from Wahi’s time at Frankfurt. Since joining the German club in January 2025, he had made 25 appearances, but accumulated only 614 minutes and scored once, in the German Cup. That limited involvement left him short of the regular role he had enjoyed at Nice, where his movement and finishing gave the team a direct attacking outlet.

Wahi’s transfer history places him among the most expensive young forwards to move through French football in recent seasons. Lens sold him to Marseille for €27 million in the 2024-25 campaign, before Marseille transferred him to Frankfurt for €26 million. Nice then brought him back on loan in the 2025-26 campaign, with its current agreement giving the club the option to make the return permanent.

The striker arrives as part of a wider effort to strengthen Nice’s squad after a season in which survival became the overriding concern. The club has also added Gauthier Hein, Laurent Abergel, Axel Witsel and Nathan Ngoumou, although Abergel suffered a serious injury during pre-season. Wahi’s arrival addresses the need for a centre-forward with recent Ligue 1 experience and a proven record in high-pressure matches.

His wider French top-flight record includes 139 matches, 49 goals and 14 assists. He also holds Ivorian and French citizenship and has won five international caps for Ivory Coast. Nice’s current valuation of the player is €18 million, placing the €15 million purchase option below that figure if the club decides to complete the transfer.

For Wahi, the move offers a chance to rebuild the momentum created during his first months at Nice. For the club, it provides a familiar attacking figure without an immediate permanent transfer of €15 million. The first immediate step is his return to competition, with qualification for Sunday’s match in Paris set to give Nice an early opportunity to use a forward whose previous spell delivered goals, assists and crucial results.