Football
Ian Holyman, France correspondent 7y

Wesley Sneijder joins Nice on free transfer despite offer from LAFC

Wesley Sneijder has signed for French side Nice after successfully completing a medical on Monday.

The French club's official website announced on Sunday that free agent Sneijder, 33, had agreed "in principle" to join them, and they confirmed on Monday that the Netherlands international had signed a contract after passing a medical.

Sneijder was a free agent after ending his contract with Turkish club Galatasaray by mutual consent earlier this summer.

He had been linked with a move to Los Angeles FC, with sources telling ESPN FC earlier this summer that he had an offer on the table that would pay him $3.5 million a year. He was also heavily linked to Sampdoria in Serie A before opting for Ligue 1.

Sneijder, who also confirmed the move by stating "Bonjour Nice" in a video on the Ligue 1 side's Twitter account, will wear the No. 10 shirt and was due to train with his new Nice teammates on Monday afternoon.

The move sees Sneijder link up with Mario Balotelli, with whom he won the Treble while the pair were at Inter Milan under Jose Mourinho in 2009-10.

Nice also announced the signing of France Under-20 forward Allan Saint-Maximin from Monaco.

The 20-year-old Saint-Maximin had spent the past two seasons on loan at Hannover and Bastia, respectively.

Nice, who lost their opening Ligue 1 game of the season 1-0 to St Etienne at the weekend, are through to the Champions League playoff round, where they face Napoli for a place in the group stage of the competition.

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