Coach Christophe Galtier on Tuesday told L’Equipe he was stepping down as coach of Lille OSC two days after winning the Ligue 1 title.
“I simply have the deep belief that my time is up here,” he told the French sports daily.
Galtier, who was appointed in 2017, said that he has received job offers from clubs including OGC Nice and Olympique Lyonnais in France, and Serie A’s SSC Napoli.
Photo: Reuters
The Marseille-born 54-year-old said he was moving on to avoid “falling into a routine.”
“I feel now is the moment,” he said.
Galtier engineered a turnaround in Lille’s fortunes after succeeding Marcelo Bielsa midway through the 2017-2018 season. Lille just avoided relegation. They then finished second to Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) in his first full season as coach.
Lille were fourth when last season ended early because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and on Sunday were crowned champions for the first time since 2010-2011. Lille’s 2-1 victory over Angers SCO on Sunday saw them finish top with a club record of 83 points, one ahead of PSG.
Lille President Olivier Letang said that they have been unable to persuade Galtier to remain on as coach.
“With Christophe, we knew each other before working together in Lille,” Letang said on the club’s Web site.
“There has always been a lot of respect between us and our relationship has grown even stronger during our collaboration over the past five months. I naturally tried to convince him, but I believe his decision was already made,” he said.
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