Hibs land '10 million Euro man' on loan as Monty hits January sales

Manager believes versatile all-rounder can rediscover top form in Scotland

Hertha Berlin's Maolida has joined Hibs

Hibs have landed former 10 million Euro attacker Myziane Maolida on a six-month loan. And manager Nick Montgomery says punters should be “excited” by the prospect of watching the French-born Comoros international, who came through the academy at Lyon – before being bought by Nice in a big-money move.

Although the 24-year-old has been playing for Hertha’s B team in the German Regionalliga Northeast since the start of the season, having seen a summer move to Turkey fall through, Montgomery believes he’s landed a potential match-winner with the ability to play all across the front four. Monty, who replaced Lee Johnson as manager in September, welcomed the first signing of his Hibs reign – and backed Maolida, who has three goals and two assists to his name in 10 appearances for Hertha II, to resurrect his career in Scotland.

The Yorkshireman said: “Myziane is a very talented young player who has undoubted potential to play at the very highest level. For us to have the chance to sign a player of this calibre in January is an opportunity we worked hard to make happen, and we’re grateful to Hertha Berlin for agreeing to facilitate this loan. 

“At 24 he has already moved to some big clubs but has found himself not playing regularly. He’s now hungry to get his career back on track. After numerous video calls, it was clear both parties really wanted to make this happen.

 “Myziane can play centrally and wide, which is really important as we have been light in attacking options. I’m sure the supporters will be excited to see him in Hibs green and white for the rest of the season, and we will continue to search the market for additional signings.”

Maolida was considered one of the brightest prospects in Europe when he broke through into the Lyon first team at aged 18, with talk of a 100 million Euro buy-out clause being inserted in his contract. Nice landed him for a tenth of that – and he established himself as a Ligue 1 regular before making the leap to Hertha, still in Germany’s top flight at the time, in 2021. He spent the second half of last season on loan to Reims before returning to Hertha, who had been relegated to Bundesliga II in his absence.