Christophe Gaultier said he was ready to impose himself in the Paris Saint-Germain superstars’ dressing room after being appointed as the club’s new coach on Tuesday to replace the sacked Mauricio Pochettino.
Gaultier, who left PSG’s Ligue 1 rivals Nice last month, has signed a two-year deal with the French champions at the Parc des Princes soon after Pochettino’s departure was announced.
“Yes, I am passionate, yes I am proud,” Gaultier said at a news conference in the French capital.
“I understand very well the responsibility that has been given to me but I have prepared for it. I wouldn’t accept this job if I didn’t think I was capable of it. ,
Gaultier may not be as famous internationally as some of the other names who were linked with a PSG job – Zinedine Zidane in particular – but he has an excellent reputation in France where he won the Ligue 1 title last year with Lille was.
He insisted that he is not afraid to make a mark in the PSG dressing room full of star names other than Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi and Neymar.
“It’s a privilege for me to have a dressing room full of world-class players,” he said.
“You have to talk with them but also impose yourself. There can be no compromise.
“We should have a common project but there will be no revolution. I’m going to watch and listen, and I know I’ll have management’s support if there’s a player who doesn’t fit the club’s project.
The club had previously issued a brief statement confirming what was widely said for the week – Pochettino’s departure with one year remaining on his contract.
“Paris Saint-Germain confirm that Mauricio Pochettino has terminated his role at the club,” a statement from the club said as the former Tottenham Hotspur coach left Parc des Princes after 18 months in charge.
Pochettino and his backroom staff won the Ligue 1 title last season, but the campaign was better remembered for a disappointing exit from the Champions League in the last 16 at the hands of Real Madrid.
– ‘Never talked to Zidane’ –
“The club would like to thank Mauricio Pochettino and his staff for their work and wish them the very best for the future,” PSG’s statement said.
PSG’s move to Gaultier remained an open secret for several weeks and club president Nasser al-Khelaiyi rejected any suggestion that he initially wanted to hire Zinedine Zidane.
“We never spoke to Zidane. I love him as a player and as a coach but we never spoke to him for the respect I have for him.
“Christophe Gaultier was always the first choice for us. He is here and I hope that will be the last question in this case.
Gaultier is PSG’s seventh coach since the club’s Qatari takeover in 2011 and will hope to become the first player to succeed in the Champions League.
The 55-year-old has developed a reputation as the leading coach in the French club game over the past decade.
He enjoyed eight successful years at Saint-Etienne, where he won the League Cup in 2013, before a four-year stint at Lille was crowned with a Ligue 1 title in 2021, when he overhauled PSG.
He left Lille in the wake of that success and joined the ambitious Nice, which is owned by Ineos, a conglomerate headed by British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe.
Gaultier took Nice to fifth place in the previous season as well as the French Cup final, which they lost to Nantes.
The former Portsmouth assistant manager previously worked with Portuguese super scout Luis Campos, who was recently named as PSG’s football advisor and who built the Lille team that won the league under Gaultier.
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