Premier League target Plea: I’m leaving Nice in the summer

After coming back strongly from injury over the course of the last campaign, the attacker is set to try his luck elsewhere

Nice striker Alassane Plea has confirmed that he is likely to depart the club in the summer.

The 24-year-old former youth has scored 14 goals in this season, bouncing back impressively after suffering a serious knee injury towards the end of the 2016-17 campaign.

A number of Premier League clubs have been linked with the forward, including , West Ham and Newcastle, but Plea said at the beginning of April that he had received contact from an unnamed club in , thought to be .

“There have been talks and I don’t think that next year I’ll be here any longer,” he told Canal+ after the weekend’s 4-1 home win over , which keeps Nice’s aspirations of reaching the burning.

Previously, he had told Marca: “I know there’s been interest from Spain with teams that have been following my progress and watching me. Moreover, is a league that’s very technical and is suited to attackers.”

Nice will also lose 18-goal top Ligue 1 scorer Mario Balotelli this summer, with the international set to depart on a free transfer after two years at the club.

Head coach Lucien Favre has been linked with a move to .

The Allianz Riviera side need to win at Lyon next weekend to secure a place in Europe next season, though their hosts require three points to seal a spot in the .