Salis Abdul Samed

Key strength: Ball retention

Deep-lying playmaker

With OGC Nice languishing in 15th place and winless in five matches — their form reading a dismal DLDDD — Franck Haise finds himself under mounting pressure to reinvigorate a midfield that has lacked both bite and balance. Enter Salis Abdul Samed, the €5.5 million Ghanaian defensive midfielder who remains one of the squad's most intriguing untapped resources. Despite his modest 55 rating and peripheral status — just 180 Ligue 1 minutes across four appearances this season — the 25-year-old carries genuine pedigree as a deep-lying playmaker whose 60-rated passing hints at metronomic quality. His two yellow cards in limited action reveal the defensive steel Nice desperately needs to shield a vulnerable backline. While Morgan Sanson and Charles Vanhoutte command the minutes that matter, Samed offers something different: composure under pressure, ball retention, and the ability to knit attacks together through the thirds. At an age when defensive midfielders typically enter their prime, Samed represents both an immediate solution to Nice's midfield malaise and a longer-term investment. With his team teetering between mediocrity and genuine relegation anxiety, Haise may soon have no choice but to unleash the man whose presence could quiet Nice's growing storm.