Manchester United failed to qualify for Europe after finishing 15th in the league and losing the Europa League final to Tottenham Hotspur last season.
This means links can open again with OGC Nice, who share owners INEOS with the Red Devils.
Last season, both clubs were in the Europa League and UEFA prevented them from carrying out any sort of transfers between Manchester United and Nice.
Thursday’s edition of Nice-Matin explains INEOS put their ownership of Nice into a trust until June 30th. There were no direct communications between anyone associated with the Ligue 1 side and INEOS for a year.
Manchester United will be without European competition this season and this lets INEOS again take control of Nice, and the parties can establish contact. It’s claimed Jean-Claude Blanc is the preferred point of contact for Nice CEO Fabrice Bocquet.
The English club and Nice can also carry out transfers business between themselves this summer. However, the Ligue 1 club have no intention of ‘becoming the nursery of Manchester United.’
“If there are to be exchanges between clubs, it will be because these are players who are 100% approved by [Nice sporting director] Florian Maurice and who will bring real added value to OGC Nice,” a source close to Nice told the newspaper.
Nice-Matin report Ruben Amorim’s side have offered a player to the French club, but the unnamed player wasn’t considered suitable. Nice have shown interest in a youngster, but Manchester United are planning to count on him this season. The names of those two players haven’t been revealed.
The newspaper states: ‘Considerations are underway to build a smart and effective multi-club project, but INEOS first has many issues to resolve within the Manchester club, and this will therefore be done gradually, the objective being above all for each club to perform individually.’
