According to Bloomberg, British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe has significantly lowered the asking price for French Ligue 1 club Nice.

The INEOS founder and co-owner of Manchester United had initially set an asking price of more than €200 million for Nice. However, the market response was lukewarm, with potential buyers widely viewing the valuation as excessive and showing little interest. As a result, Ratcliffe has been forced to slash the price in order to push the sale forward.

In fact, as early as 2025, Nice was formally put up for sale, with international investment bank Lazard appointed to help find a buyer. The process has proven far from smooth, largely due to turbulence within Ligue 1 itself. Last year, the league terminated its broadcasting agreement with DAZN, worth around €500 million per year, and instead attempted to launch its own direct-to-consumer digital platform. This hasty shift disrupted the league’s commercial rhythm and significantly depressed the valuations of mid-table clubs such as Nice.

So far, Ratcliffe, OGC Nice and Lazard have all declined to comment on the matter.

When Ratcliffe took over Nice with great fanfare in 2019, he vowed to turn the southern French club into a domestic and even European force. Seven years on, that vision remains unfulfilled, with the club instead mired in difficulties.

At present, Nice sit 14th out of 18 teams in Ligue 1, just six points clear of the relegation zone and facing the real risk of going down. Relegation to Ligue 2 would sharply reduce revenues and further intensify the club’s financial pressure.

Their struggles have extended to European competition as well. Last August, Nice were eliminated early in the Champions League qualifiers, before dropping into the Europa League, where they finished bottom of their group with little competitiveness.

Fan enthusiasm is also waning. The Allianz Riviera has a capacity of 36,000, but average attendance this season has fallen to around 22,000 — 2,000 fewer than last season. More worrying still, after an away defeat to Lorient late last year, a group of radical fans reportedly surrounded players to vent their anger, forcing the club to issue a public condemnation of such behaviour.