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The Paris Saint Germain is about to close a deal to hire the current coach of the A series, Christophe Galtiersomething that can only be made official when the departure of Mauricio Pochettino and his team of collaborators, a fact that seems imminent. This is the scenario presented in the last few hours by the French press, which reveals figures for the contracts and considers the outcome of the Argentine strategist closed and would be announced in the coming days. Most likely, the news will be known this week.
According to The Team, PSG will pay about 10 million euros to Nice as compensation for the departure of Galtierwho still had a contract for two more years with the Côte d’Azur club. In the same way, France Info indicates that it was this Monday when a commitment was obtained between the parties so that the 55-year-old DT become the new head of the capital campus.
However, in the Princes Park must first resolve the case Pochettino and his working groupJesus Perez, Miguel D’Agostino, Toni Jimenez and Sebastiano Pochettino), which for its part He had a contract until June 2023. The Team points out that the institution will have to pay him a sum that will approach 15 million euros and that he will not be able to announce the arrival of Galtier until the last details of their breakup are agreed, something that is estimated to be made public this Thursday.
In another order, the owner of Paris Saint Germainthe qatari sheikh Nasser Al Khelaifi, I affirm that rejected the offer of 180 million euros from Real Madrid for Kylian Mbappé, who decided to “stay” in the French club along with Lionel Messi. “I turned down 180 million last summer from Real Madrid because I knew Kylian wanted to stay at PSG. I know him very well, I know what he and his family want from him, and They don’t move for money. He has chosen to play here for his city, his club and his country, and for the sports project. He only thinks about playing and winning”, said the businessman.
“What we do, we do it because we know we can. It is not our style to talk about other leagues, clubs or federations. We are not giving lessons and we are not going to allow anyone to give us lessons. Every year is the same. Let’s keep building our project”, he pointed Al Khelaifi in advance of the interview he had with the newspaper Brand from Spain.
The sheikh was harshly criticized by the president of The league, Javier Tebasand even denounced as club-state and questioned the economic funds with which they are managed. Finally, the president ruled out the arrival of Zinedine Zidane for this season as coach, instead of the Argentine Mauricio Pochettino. “We’ll tell you when it’s time. I just want to make it clear that I liked Zidane as a player and I like him as a coach, but we haven’t spoken to him directly or indirectly, ever.”, he stressed.
“We have chosen a coach who will be the best for what we want to start”, said the Qatari leader, confirming the talks with the current Nice strategist. “I hope we find an agreement quickly, but I respect Nice and the president (Jean-Pierre) Re-live, each one defends their interests”, he concluded. . Undoubtedly, the era Christophe Galtier is about to start in Paris.
THE HISTORY OF CHRISTOPHE GALTIER
This 55-year-old Marseillais had a long career as a footballer in the French league. He debuted in 1985 with the jersey of the Olympic Marseillewhere he played for two seasons before being signed by Lille, site where three remained. In Toulouse achieved continuity for three years and then experienced a year in Angers and another in Nimes Olympicprior to his return to Marseille and as a prelude to his latest journeys as a professional in Monza (promotion of Italy) and Liaoning Yuandong (China).
Immediately after hanging up his boots, he developed a master’s degree in coaching as an aide-de-camp for a decade. In France he was at Olympique de Marseille, Bastia, Sochaux, Olympique de Lyon and Saint Etienne, while he also added experiences abroad with Aris Thessaloniki (Greece), Al Ain (United Arab Emirates) and Portsmouth (England), working in the shadow of renowned coaches such as the Brazilian Abel Bragathe Spanish Xavier Clement and the French Bernard Casoni y Alain Perrineven being an interim on some of those teams.
He registered a pearl in his record as a coach: in his first year as an assistant at Marseille, he attacked Marcelo Gallardo (then Monaco’s number 10) in the tunnel during halftime of a match and received a 6-month ban. The scandal took on national significance. In the book Gallardo Monumentalthe current River coach remembered that episode: “The first half ended… and we went into the tunnel. At that time it was not customary to go out all together. And here comes the ambush. It turns out that there were some guys from private security at the tunnel door… I was one of the last to enter the tunnel and when I got in I felt a ‘pack’, as if something was closing, and indeed the security guards had cut off the entrance into the tunnel… Inside was Galtier waiting for me. He spoke to me a little in Spanish, he kind of grabbed my hair, I made a fool of myself, I took it off, and when I take it off I see out of the corner that he is going to throw a pineapple and I elbow him in the middle of the face . There a security guy grabbed me from behind, with an arm around my neck, the Marseille players came and started hitting me from the front without stopping… I don’t know, it must have been about 15 or 20 seconds that they kicked me and kicked me everywhere”.
After that embarrassing episode, Galtier tried to lower his profile. In 2009 he became coach of the Saint Etienne succeeding Perrin and spent no less than eight seasons at the head of the Alps team. In general, he had good campaigns (except for the first year in which he finished 17th, he always ranked between fourth and tenth place) and embroidered the star of the French League Cup in the 2012/2013. He competed in four editions of the Europa League and did not pass the 16th final.
Lille looked at Galtier at the end of 2017 to replace Marcelo Bielsa and with him on the bench sealed the permanence in the top French division. In 2018/2019 and without a big budget, Galette (as he is nicknamed) turned his team into the great revelation placing them behind PSG as runners-up. During that campaign the Dogos They beat Thomas Tuchel’s Paris Saint Germain 5-1. And he once again had a great performance in the league that was interrupted with ten dates remaining due to the coronavirus pandemic (he finished in fourth place).
Although he was at fault internationally, being eliminated (without wins) in the first round of the Champions League and later in the round of 16 of the Europa League, Lille gave the big blow in France by snatching the title from PSG in 2020/2021, laurel that catapulted Galtier to be considered one of the best strategists in the local environment. Nice took note of his performance and hired him for the season that just ended, in which las Eagles they finished in fifth place (They deducted a point for incidents, which is why they agreed to the Conference League and not the Europa League).
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