Nancy ultimately came good to secure a top-half finish in Ligue 2, though for two-thirds of the campaign they battled relegation. Indeed, after 23 matches, they were mired in the bottom three, yet a run of six wins in seven games lifted them out of mediocrity and promoted them to complete safety down the stretch.
It promised to be a complicated campaign when key summer signing Mehdi Merghem suffered a serious injury that effectively prevented him playing a meaningful role in the campaign. Furthermore, their other important creative player Amine Bassi missed a significant portion of the campaign.
Shouldering the burden for Nancy instead was summer signing Mickael Biron, who completely surpassed expectations by 12 goals. Only Bassi and Kenny Rocha Santos, who stepped up well in midfield, even got half that tally.
Indeed, scoring was problematic in the first half of the season due to a woeful display from Rayan Philippe, who failed to live up to expectations as he arrived from Dijon on loan. He played 16 times without scoring, and it was not until Aurelien Scheidler was added from the same club in January that Nancy became more effective.
Meanwhile, the midfield was solid enough defensively but did not carry a significant attacking threat due to the aforementioned injuries. Giovanni Haag enjoyed a breakout season and even slotted in defensively well when Nancy moved to a back three rather successfully.
In the rearguard, Abdalhamid El Kouatari lost some of his commanding air as the season progressed, while goalkeeper was a position that Nancy struggled in, but there were positives. Saliou Ciss was again a valuable attacking threat down the left while Christopher Wooh at 19 was a standout performer in the closing weeks.
Nancy’s campaign may have been saved by seven matches of excellent form and they must recognise the need to patch holes in their side over the summer. Their budget is likely to be limited, but this was, nevertheless, a season they can reflect on being somewhat positive.
