Paris Saint-Germain have reportedly initiated contacts with Nice over the possibility of replacing Mauricio Pochettino with Christophe Galtier.
Pochettino has won the Ligue 1 title, the Coupe de France and Tropheee des Champions during his one-and-a-half year spell in the PSG hotseat, but his side have disappointed in Europe.
While the Argentine led his side to the top-flight crown with four games to spare, PSG suffered a Champions League last-16 collapse at the hands of Real Madrid in the 2021-22 season and were also eliminated from the Coupe de France by Galtier's Nice.
As a result, PSG have supposedly decided to part ways with Pochettino, and confirmation of his sacking is expected to be made official soon.
The French champions are already understood to be getting to work on finding Pochettino's successor, and Galtier has been identified as a prime candidate to take the reins.
According to L'Equipe, PSG have now made contact with Les Aiglons for Galtier, who pipped PSG to the Ligue 1 title with Lille in the 2020-21 season.
The 55-year-old worked alongside Luis Campos at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy that year, and the latter has now joined PSG as their new football advisor in place of Leonardo.
Campos is understood to have earmarked Galtier as his top target to succeed Pochettino, and PSG will have to prepare for an "intense" period of negotiations with Nice.
The report adds that the relationship between Galtier and Nice director of football Julien Fournier has broken down, and the latter recently opened the door for PSG to make a move for the title-winning coach.
"If Paris-Saint-Germain want Christophe Galtier, they mustn't wait too long, otherwise it will be more complicated," Fournier recently told L'Equipe.
"He's under contract, that's the reality. So he's more likely to be at Nice than not to be. It's very basic but it's very true. After that, if Paris-Saint-Germain comes in for him... it's a decision that I obviously won't take alone.
"When this type of club comes to get one of your players or your coach, it's hard to say 'no'... Each passing day makes PSG's task more difficult, because we have to move forward with next season. If they want him, they must not delay."
Galtier's debut season at Nice ended with a fifth-placed finish and a spot in the Europa Conference League qualifiers, winning 20, drawing seven and losing 11 in the 2021-22 Ligue 1 season.
Les Aiglons failed to maintain a Champions League charge during the latter stages of the season, though, as Galtier could only steer his side to six wins from their final 13 matches, and they also lost to Nantes in the final of the Coupe de France.
Galtier remains under contract at the Allianz Riveira until 2024, and PSG have also been linked with Zinedine Zidane and Ruben Amorim in their manager search.
However, Zidane is still thought to be holding out for the France job, and his advisor recently shot down reports claiming that the Frenchman had agreed a deal to take over at PSG. body check tags ::
