Arsenal target Koziello dreams of Nice ‘doing a Leicester’

The highly-rated Nice midfielder tells Goal that “everything is possible” over his side’s chances of dethroning PSG in Ligue 1, while he was full of praise for Mario Balotelli

Arsenal target Vincent Koziello is dreaming of Nice winning the Ligue 1 title and believes that “everything is possible”.Lucien Favre’s side, who finished fourth last term, are the surprise leaders after eight matches, one point ahead of second-placed Monaco and four in front of six-time champions PSG.

And although Koziello, who has been linked with a switch to the Gunners in the past, is keeping his feet on the ground he has not ruled out Nice going all the way in 2016-17.

He told Goal: “I think everything is possible in football but it is too early to tell [if Nice can win the league]. There are still a lot of games, a lot of points to take. We haven’t played against our direct rivals yet. If we are still in the title race with ten games remaining, perhaps we will play it down less!”

Mario Balotelli has hit the headlines for his impressive start to life at Nice after joining the club back in August and Koziello thinks the club have acquired a fantastic goalscorer.

He added: “Balotelli is a great player. He scores fantastic goals, He makes us win games. In terms of his attitude, he’s very nice and he doesn’t consider himself a star, even though he is. He doesn’t reflect the image the media give him at all. He is funny and he has found a group of players in Nice who can have a good laugh with him.”

Nice lost their star man in the summer after Hatem Ben Arfa left to join PSG, while former manager Claude Puel also quit the club as he took over at Premier League side Southampton.

Koziello, though, believes the club have coped with their exits and that they have maintained their style of play despite the departures.

“I was pretty confident [that Nice would cope without Ben Arfa and Puel], the team is constantly growing, we’ve shown it at the beginning of the championship.

“We lost a great coach but we have found another one. Great players have left, others have arrived. Although tactical systems have changed, the style of play is always the same.”

source: Goal.com