Who Is Christophe Galtier? New PSG Manager's Resume May Look Modest But He's A Serial Overachiever

Author:
Robert Summerscales
Publish date:
Jul 2, 2022 5:57 AM EDT

Christophe Galtier is not particularly well-known outside of his native France but that is about to change.

The 55-year-old is set to replace Mauricio Pochettino and become the new Paris Saint-Germain manager.

Galtier will be the man tasked with taming the likes of Neymar and Kylian Mbappe to turn a cluster of stars into the best team on Planet Soccer.

But Who Is Christophe Galtier?

Playing Career

Galtier was a defender in his playing career, which lasted from 1985 to 1999 and included spells at Marseille, Lille, Toulouse, Angers, Nimes, Monza and Liaoning.

He did not win any major silverware as a player but gained a wealth of experience which made him a prime candidate to go into coaching.

Christophe Galtier pictured playing for Marseille in 1997
IMAGO/DPPI/Panoramic

Coaching Career

Galtier wasted no time in starting his coaching career and joined Marseille as an assistant coach in 1999 - the same year he stopped playing.

After holding similar positions at Aris and Bastia, he became Alain Perrin's assistant manager in 2004 and would follow him from Al Ain to Portsmouth to Sochaux to Lyon and then Saint-Etienne.

But when Perrin left Saint-Etienne in 2009 Galtier replaced him as manager, rather than going with him.

Management Career

Galtier's first job in management would go on to last nearly eight years as he stayed in the Saint-Etienne hot-seat until May 2017 - four years after winning the Coupe de la Ligue in 2013.

Christophe Galtier pictured kissing his wife after leading Saint-Etienne to glory in the 2013 Coupe de la Ligue final — Galtier pictured kissing his wife after leading Saint-Etienne to glory in the 2013 Coupe de la Ligue final
IMAGO/PanoramiC/JBAutissier

After finishing in 17th at the end of his first season, Galtier led Saint-Etienne to 10th, seventh, fifth, fourth, fifth, sixth and eighth before standing down.

Having taken charge of Saint-Etienne midway through a relegation battle, Galtier did the same with Lille in December 2017.

He arrived with Nice 18th and guided them to safety by one point. A year later, in his first full season, Lille finished second and qualified for the Champions League.

Galtier will largely be judged at PSG on what his team does in the Champions League but his record in the competition to date is not good.

His Lille team took just one point from six group games in the 2019/20 campaign, losing home and away to Chelsea and Ajax, with their only draw coming against Valencia.

But despite their forgettable journey into Europe, Galtier was a great success at Lille after he guided them to the Ligue 1 title in 2020/21 when they finished one point ahead of PSG.

Christophe Galtier pictured standing in front of his Lille players as they celebrate winning the Ligue 1 title in 2021 — Galtier led Lille to Ligue 1 title glory in 2021
IMAGO/PanoramiC/JBAutissier

Less than a week after his team became champions of France, Galtier resigned. His job was done.

"I simply have the deep belief that my time is up here," he told L'Equipe, before added that he was moving on to avoid "falling into a routine".

A change of routine saw Galtier take over as Nice manager last summer.

Nice had finished ninth with 52 points in the previous season, but Galtier led them to fifth with 66.

Although Favre has never managed a club as big or ambitious as PSG before, he is a proven overachiever.

That is exactly what is required as PSG looked to build on their domestic dominance by winning a first European title since they lifted the 1996 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup.