After a summer spent close to the exit, Hicham Boudaoui stepped back into the picture for Nice on Sunday, helping the hosts settle a difficult Ligue 1 match against Strasbourg before Jonathan Clauss struck the decisive goal in a 2-1 win.
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Nice’s longest-serving player has begun his eighth season at the club after a transfer window in which his departure had appeared almost certain. The 27-year-old Algeria international had played only four minutes this term, in the 1-0 defeat at Auxerre, before making a far more meaningful contribution against Strasbourg.
Boudaoui entered in the 37th minute after 17-year-old midfielder Djibril Coulibaly complained of headaches. Nice had started positively but were struggling to keep control of the midfield, and Boudaoui’s arrival gave Olivier Pantaloni’s side greater balance.
“He helped us enormously in midfield through his technical quality and the way he moved the ball,” Pantaloni said.
The midfielder nearly created another major moment when his inventive backheel inside the area released Clauss, only for the Strasbourg goalkeeper to deny the defender. Clauss later found the winner as Nice took all three points.
It was an important return for a team reshaped after a difficult previous campaign. Nice brought in eight players over the summer while losing twice as many, beginning a substantial rebuild. Yet the club’s established figures have continued to matter, with Clauss and Boudaoui both influential against Strasbourg.
Boudaoui had not joined Algeria during the international break, choosing instead to work on his fitness after a demanding summer. His World Cup ended in the last 16, with Algeria beaten 2-0 by Switzerland on 3 July.
Once he returned to Nice, the player, his representatives and the club agreed that a move would be the likely conclusion to seven years together. With one year remaining on his contract, Boudaoui was involved in lengthy talks with Al-Ittihad, but the Saudi club ultimately moved for Colombia midfielder Richard Rios instead.
Monaco then explored a late European-window deal. The proposed move was a paid loan under the joker system, but required Boudaoui first to extend his Nice contract by a further year. The arrangement was close, although Monaco needed to sell at least one player — with Folarin Balogun and Aleksandr Golovin among those considered — to finance it. That sale did not happen in time.
Boudaoui returned to group training at the beginning of September and is now pushing for a starting role. His presence gives Pantaloni a timely extra option in an area where Nice had limited depth.
Before Boudaoui’s return, the coach had mainly been working with 37-year-old Axel Witsel, 19-year-old Everton and Coulibaly. Pantaloni praised the teenager’s work since the start of the campaign, but welcomed the additional competition brought by Boudaoui.
“It creates competition in a midfield department where we are not especially well stocked,” Pantaloni said.
Morgan Sanson is also nearing a return after encouraging training sessions. Like Boudaoui, he is out of contract in June. For now, both experienced midfielders have an immediate task: proving that Nice’s old guard can still have a decisive role in the club’s new cycle.
