England international Ross Barkley has joined Ligue 1 club OGC Nice on a free transfer after leaving Chelsea on mutual consent late on Sunday night and became the 12th signing of the summer for the French club.

Barkley has made 100 appearances for the club from London and has scored 12 goals and assisted another 11 for them following his arrival to Stamford Bridge from Everton in 2018. However, during his four years with Chelsea, he never quite managed to establish himself in the starting XI completely. He even spent a season on loan at Aston Villa but did manage to lift the FA Cup, the FIFA Club World Cup, as well as the UEFA Europa League during his stay with the Blues.

At Nice, the 28-year-old will find several familiar faces. He is set to link up with a host of former Premier League players, most of whom have arrived to the club this summer. Goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel left Leicester City to join Nice while former Arsenal players Aaron Ramsey and Nicolas Pepe are also at the club, the latter arriving on loan from the Gunners. Former Chelsea goalkeeping prospect Marcin Bułka is another familiar name who arrived recently.

“Midfielder Ross Barkley has joined OGC Nice on a free transfer after four-and-a-half years at Chelsea,” the French club said in a statement.

“Though the summer transfer window closed last Thursday evening in France, he can join the Aiglons as he was out of contract.”

Also confirming the signing of Barkley, the club posted a video of him wearing the shirt on their Twitter account. In the announcement video, the player is seen checking himself in the new red and black colours.

When Barkley had joined Chelsea from Everton for £15million in 2018, he was coveted as one of the most promising and talented players in England. However, in a squad full of stars, he never managed to shine brightly and remained in and out of the managers’ plans.
Barkley will be hoping for a fresh start in Ligue 1 with a rejuvenated OGC Nice squad. He was presented to the Nice fans ahead of Riviera derby against Monaco which they actually ended up losing 1-0.