Bard, Melvin
Melvin Bard is apparently close to finalising a loan with an option to buy from French club Nice.
Fee of around £1mil loan and an option around £4mil
The 25-year-old French left-back developed in the highly respected Olympique Lyonnais youth academy, making 15 senior appearances before moving to the Côte d'Azur in 2021. He quickly became an indispensable pillar for Nice, racking up nearly 200 total appearances, stepping up as a key dressing room leader, and twice finishing in the top three for the club's Player of the Season award. He also brings valuable European pedigree from runs in the Europa League and Conference League, alongside extensive international experience across France's youth ranks up to the U23 Olympic squad.
Strengths
Tactical Versatility: Naturally a modern left-back, but completely comfortable playing as a wing-back, left midfielder, or even filling in as a left-sided center-back under Franck Haise.
Ground Duels and Defensive Anticipation: Exceptional timing in 1v1 ground duels and defensive blocks. He relies on explosive short-burst speed to step up aggressively and shut down opposition wingers before they can turn.
Ball Progression and Carrying: Rather than looking for long direct passes, he excels at driving the team forward by carrying the ball into space from deep. He ranks very high among French fullbacks for successful dribbles and progressive carries.
Link-up Play in Tight Spaces: Excellent composure and technical security when playing out from the back. He is highly effective at executing short combination passes with central midfielders to break an opponent's high press.
Weaknesses
Poor Final Product: He rarely creates or scores goals. Across his entire career, he averages less than one assist or goal every dozen games, often lacking the high-quality final ball, crossing precision, or composure in the box to finish off his attacking runs.
Aerial Vulnerability: Standing at 1.73 meters or 5 foot 8, he heavily struggles in the air, winning very few aerial duels. Physical teams can easily exploit him at the back post with deep crosses or high long balls.
Ball Retention under Severe Pressing: While good in short passing sequences, he can get caught over-playing in his own third, losing possession at a high percentage when tightly squeezed deep on the touchline.
Disciplinary Record: A fiery, highly aggressive playing style that sometimes translates to picking up regular bookings, having accumulated over 20 yellow cards and 4 red cards during his Ligue 1 stint.
Was most successful interestingly in the 3-4-2-1 used by Franck Haise apparently which is basically what we use.
But different to Gudmundsson, less attacking, more progressive passing, left centre back role or wing back tucking in like Pep used to do.
And yes this was mainly AI
