Paris Saint-Germain president confirms talks with Nice coach Christophe Galtier

Posted Wednesday, June 22, 2022 by ESPN

Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser al-Khelaifi said on Tuesday he was in talks with Nice to hire coach Christophe Galtier to replace Mauricio Pochettino at the French champions.

Sports paper L'Equipe on Monday reported Galtier was being lined up to take over at PSG, but that the announcement of his appointment would have to wait until Argentine Pochettino's departure was finalised.

"We have a shortlist of coaches, we are in talks with Nice, this is not a secret," Qatari Al-Khelaifi told Le Parisien in a detailed interview published on Tuesday.

The club's current manager Pochettino, who was appointed 18 months ago, came under pressure having failed to help PSG break new ground in the Champions League last season, after they were eliminated in the round of 16 by Real Madrid.

Galtier joined Nice ahead of last season having led former club Lille to their first Ligue 1 title since 2011 in the previous campaign.

Al-Khelaifi also appeared to put an end to the constant speculation surrounding France great Zinedine Zidane, dismissing reports that the club had been in talks with the 1998 World Cup winner about becoming their new head coach.

"Many clubs are interested in hiring him, including national teams, but no, we have never been in discussions with him," Al-Khelaifi said.

The PSG president also addressed the circumstances surrounding Kylian Mbappe's decision to commit his immediate future to PSG despite interest from LaLiga and Champions League winners Real Madrid.

Mbappe's decision to sign a three-year contract in May to extend his stay in Paris drew widespread criticism in Spain, but Al-Khelaifi defended the 23-year-old World Cup winner with France.

"I have great respect for Real Madrid as a club, they're a great club," Al-Khelaifi said. "But Kylian has never decided to renew for the money, that's the first thing. Madrid's offer was better than ours. He is our player and he had other clubs in England as well as Madrid, but he chose PSG and we didn't talk to him or his family about money until the last moment.

"Kylian was above all interested in the project, in football and sport. He is Parisian, he is French, and he wanted to stay here to represent his city and his country, his club, and it is not fair what has been said about him. For them, money is not the most important thing, they want to win and they want a sporting project."

Al-Khelaifi also hit back at a suit that LaLiga president Javier Tebas said he would file about PSG's re-signing of Mbappe and their potential breach of Financial Fair Play rules in order to make the deal work.

"Who is Tebas?" Al-Khelaifi said. "I don't know that person. Our style is not to interfere in the affairs of other clubs, other leagues or federations, it is not our style. But I am not going to accept that others give us lessons. I don't care what he says. The truth is, we have been talking about this for years.

"We have a football project to build and we are going to go ahead. We're not worried about everything that comes out in the media, because we can't waste our time with everything that comes out."