If you’re not fast you’re last, and that certainly was the case this week as Celtic reportedly started the transfer negotiations with the usual low-ball offer for Rapid Vienna’s Nicolas Kuhn replacement Isak Jansson…
That was quickly thrown out before the Austrian side let it be known that they had REJECTED a record breaking bid for the Swedish winger, without naming the side Celtic were competing with.
Isak Jansson of SK Rapid during the UEFA Conference League 2024/25 Round of 16 Second Leg match between SK Rapid and FK Borac at Weststadion on March 13, 2025 in Vienna, Austria. (Photo by Christian Hofer/Getty Images)
Celtic obviously knew it wasn’t THEM that had made that bid and maybe were scrambling to work out what the Rapid Vienna record transfer fee actually was. But while all that was going on, the mystery club was revealed because they had slapped a €10m revised offer in, meeting the price requested by Rapid, who bought the Swedish winger without properly scouting him for just €200k after they sold Nicolas Kuhn to Celtic.
From €200k to €10M in 18 months is an incredible situation to have emerged and certainly that would have appeared way too reckless for the cautious Celtic Board and probably most supporters would have thought the same. But it turns out that OGC Nice had done their homework, scouting the Swedish winger extensively last season and fully confident that this deal is one that makes perfect sense for them.
Isak Jansson of SK Rapid during the UEFA Conference League 2024/25 Round of 16 Second Leg match between SK Rapid and FK Borac at Weststadion on March 13, 2025 in Vienna, Austria. (Photo by Christian Hofer/Getty Images)
This time though Jansson was properly scouted – by the French side from the beautiful Côte d’Azur and maybe someone will ask when Celtic started taking an interest in the player, given it has been pretty clear for many months that Nicilas Kuhn was counting down the hours until his Celtic exit was confirmed.
📍 Nice, France.
𝐵𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑢𝑒 𝐼𝑠𝑎𝑘🌊🇸🇪
👉https://t.co/BCYrGZKfrJ pic.twitter.com/Ekcqi12DEQ— OGC Nice 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@ogcnice_eng) July 10, 2025
Here’s how the French side announced the signing and it includes some background into the work that OGC Nice had undertaken to ensure that Isak Jansson was the right signing and that the price paid represents good value for money. Well played Rapid Vienna too and they’ll also be getting a sell-on clause for the Kuhn sale to Como which has dragged on a bit this week.
Isak Jansson signs for OGC Nice.
OGC Nice and Rapid Vienna have reached an agreement for the transfer of Swedish forward Isak Jansson…
With Franck Haise’s squad currently in the third week of their pre-season, they are set to welcome a new addition to the squad: Isak Jansson. A former Swedish U-21 international, the 23-year-old forward “is one of the investments we absolutely wanted to make”, stresses Florian Maurice, sporting director of Les Aiglons.
He added, “We closely monitored his performances last season. We’re convinced that he can add real value to our squad. Isak is a young player with potential, but he also has experience. He shows commitment on the pitch. He’s capable of playing in all the attacking positions, with a preference for the left-winger position, on his weaker side. Physically, he’s powerful and capable of putting in a lot of effort, as well as being adept in the penalty area.”
Isak Jansson signs for OGC Nice
The Kinna native made 33 appearances in 2024-25, scoring 9 goals and providing 6 assists (in all competitions), playing a key role in Rapid Vienna’s fine European campaign, which ended in the Conference League quarter-finals against Djugarden. Trained and debuted as a professional at Kalmar FF in his homeland, he went on to play for FC Cartagena in Spain, before moving to Austria in the winter of 2024 and then to the Côte d’Azur in the summer of 2025. “I’m very happy and very proud to be signing for OGC Nice,” said the new Aiglon. “After my discussions with the directors and the coach, I’m convinced that I’m making the right decision. I’m aware that the club has big ambitions, both in Ligue 1 and in Europe. It’s up to me to do everything I can to help the team grow and make the fans proud.“
Best of luck to Isak Jansson at OGC Nice. He’s one we’ll keep an eye on because in football you never know what’s round the corner.
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I think we dodged a bullet there. £200,000 to £8,600,000 equates to 43 times the value. No one increase that much in a year, that would be like us selling Matt after a year for nearly £70,000,000 or Kuhn for £130,000,000. These guys were playing european football too and being noticed. Also I read that he is injury prone and could miss a lot of football when tested physically. Good luck to Nice as a player in Spain’s 2 league then Austria for a year is worth £8-9 million.
As they say in the west of Scotland, Austria saw them coming!
Instead of Kuhn and Jansson, can we not just hire the guy that scouted them both.
Any links to us having a bid rejected?
Seems a bit weird to be slating the club for missing out on a player noone has a clue if we were even in for.
It was certainly reported during the week. We also had an article saying Rapid’s 10m euro valuation was way too high for a player that they bought for 200k, but they got a buyer so far play to them. Time will tell if Nice have overpaid. Had Celtic spent 10m on him plenty would have questioned the wisdom, as we did in advance.