How would you rate Arpan Naprasm's two year tenure at the club?
I'm unsure to whether call his managerial time period a success or a period of underachievement and therefore ultimately a failure. I'm more inclined to the latter notion. Because he has shown promise, he has developed his team better than anyone in Europe, and actually made them some of the very best of the current era. But he has failed to achieve anything with them, and that is why I believe his two years at OGC Nice have been more of a failure than a success.
Now let us put that into perspective. They finished third in the 2021-22 season, qualified for the knockout stages of the Champions League, unfortunately went out in the second round of the Ligue Nationale. Kephren Thuram made his way to Borussia Dortmund for 50 Million Euros, on the basis of an incredible season which saw him contribute 11 goals and 10 assists in 37 games. Then there was Todibo, the 21 year old who was poached by Juventus for 52 Million Euros to strengthen their backline. They did manage to hold on to Amine Gouiri, Player of the season in Ligue 1, 30 Goals & 19 assists in that season as a 21 year old. Nice had two offers to deal with- Manchester United and Real Madrid were both luring Gouiri to join their respective clubs, but it was under the influence of Naprasm and the promise of Europe that Gouiri decided to stay for another season, in which he got 28 goals and 25 assists in all competitions, was the 3rd best goal scorer in the league behind Messi and Mbappe, and topped the assist charts. What he contributed to the club and the Ligue overall was just incredible.
But that was not all. He was not the only hit of course. There was his strike partner Andy Delort who has great number in the last two years. 73 appearances, 38 goals and 28 assists across all competitions- second highest goalscorer in Ligue 1 in the 2021-22 season. Dolberg was his backup in the first season, who left for Real Sociedad for around 27M, who Naprasm replaced with another Scandinavian Alexander Sorloth, who almost matched Delort in terms of goals playing a lot less games than him.
Let us have a look at individual records Nice's players have achieved under Naprasm
Season 2021-22
Player | Appearances | Goals | Assists |
Amine Gouiri | 39 | 31 | 19 |
Khepren Thuram | 37 | 11 | 10 |
Pedro De La Vega | 33 | 1 | 16 |
Andy Delort | 33 | 19 | 5 |
Justin Kluivert | 24 | 10 | 4 |
Kasper Dolberg | 22 | 7 | 3 |
Prominent Departures at end of 2021-22 season-
Khepren Thuram to Borussia Dortmund for 50M
Jean-Clair Todibo to Juventus for 52M
Pablo Rosario to Real Madrid for 37M (Release Clause Met)
KAsper Dolberg to Real Sociedad for around 27M (Undisclosed fee)
We have clearly missed out on one name, don't you think?
Pedro De La Vega. Wonderkid. He has taken the premier League by storm and he has played just 5 matches. Let us talk about his time at OGC Nice first though. Argentinian kid, 20 years old, playing for Lanus, Naprasm brings him to Nice, deploys him on the right flank. First season, as you can see, just a single goal, but 14 assists. He was second behind Gouiri in the assist charts. Arsenal had made an all out offer for him at the end of the that season for 49.5M. Nice had made it very clear that he was not for sell. Another season goes by, and after 10 more goals and 11 assists, he is worth around around 85M. There were offers from Juventus for 82M, which before OGC Nice rejected, he scored twice against them in the Friendly cup- and then Nice rejected the offer. Then came Inter, Aston Villa, Bayer Leverkusen, Brentford, Brighton, all for 90+ Million.
Now remember this was a 20 year kid from Argentina playing in the Argentine League, who Naprasm bought for 11M Euros. And when ultimately Spurs came, Nice sold him for 100M. Even Lanus received 4M from their sell on clause.
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