The Albany Gazette - Favre new Nice coach as Galtier in PSG talks

"Christophe Galtier is no longer in charge of Nice's first team," Nice said in a statement.

Favre, the 64-year-old Swiss who has been without a club since he was released by Dortmund in December 2020, supervised training as the Nice squad returned from a summer break.

"Coming back is special. I kept in contact with a lot of people. I was contacted by a club but as soon as there was Nice, I said 'I'm going there,'" Favre told a news conference.

"What (club owners) Ineos are doing is very interesting. What they want to continue building is huge."

"Over the next two years Nice must progress, do good things in the transfer windows and finish regularly in the top three. And even more.

"You have to tell the truth, that's the goal. In other sports, Ineos is number one."

Favre spent two years as coach of Nice between 2016 and 2018, guiding the club to a third-place finish in his first season and the qualifying rounds of the Champions League.

"I am absolutely delighted that Lucien Favre is joining us," said Jim Ratcliffe, the British billionaire chairman of Ineos.

"He is an experienced coach who has been successful in the Bundesliga and also here at Nice. He has earned respect and admiration everywhere."

PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi confirmed last week the Qatari-owned club were in discussions with Galtier about taking over from Mauricio Pochettino.

Al-Khelaifi denied the club had been in touch with Zinedine Zidane.

"I don't want to get into details but we more or less know where Christophe is going. They still have some small things to sort out," said Nice president Jean-Pierre Rivere.

"I wish him the best season possible. It's of course a superb opportunity for him."

Galtier won the French league title with Lille in 2021 before leaving for Nice, leading the south coast club to fifth place last season.

Rivere also confirmed that football director Julien Fournier would be leaving Nice.

(A.Lehmann--BBZ)