Christophe Galtier (born 23 August 1966) is a French professional football manager and former player who is the current head coach of Qatar Stars League club Al-Duhail. A defender, Galtier spent many of his 15 years as a player at Marseille with spells at six other clubs, four in France and one each in Italy and China.[4]

Christophe Galtier
Galtier with Al-Duhail in 2023
Personal information
Full name Christophe Galtier
Date of birth (1966-08-23) 23 August 1966 (age 58)
Place of birth Marseille, France
Height 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)[1]
Position(s) Centre-back[2]
Team information
Current team
Al-Duhail (head coach)
Youth career
SO Les Caillols[3]
1982–1985 Marseille
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1985–1987 Marseille 52 (0)
1987–1990 Lille 93 (0)
1990–1993 Toulouse 82 (0)
1993–1994 Angers 33 (1)
1994–1995 Nîmes 21 (0)
1995–1997 Marseille 62 (0)
1997–1998 Monza 24 (0)
1998–1999 Liaoning 23 (0)
Total 390 (1)
International career
1988 France U21 6 (0)
Managerial career
2009–2017 Saint-Étienne
2017–2021 Lille
2021–2022 Nice
2022–2023 Paris Saint-Germain
2023– Al-Duhail
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

With Saint-Étienne, Galtier won the Manager of the Year award at the 2013 Trophées UNFP du football, which he shared with Carlo Ancelotti; he won again in 2019 after Lille finished in second place during the 2018–19 Ligue 1 season. Galtier won the trophy for a third time in 2021 after guiding Lille to their fourth Ligue 1 title in club history. After a one-year spell at Nice, Galtier joined Paris Saint-Germain in 2022, where he won the Ligue 1 title again.

Early life and playing career

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Christophe Galtier[5] was born on 23 August 1966[6] in Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône.[7] He spent a large part of his playing career in France with his hometown club Marseille, whom he represented in two different spells. In a fifteen-year career, he also played for Lille, Toulouse, Angers, and Nîmes in France, before ending his career with stints in Italy for Monza and with Liaoning in China.[citation needed]

Coaching career

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Assistant coach (1999–2009)

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From 1999 to 2004, Galtier was assistant coach at Marseille, Aris and Bastia. From 2004 to 2009, he worked as Alain Perrin's assistant coach at Al Ain, Portsmouth, Sochaux, Lyon and Saint-Étienne (ASSE).[8]

Saint-Étienne

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Galtier with Saint-Étienne in 2014

In December 2009, Galtier was appointed the head coach of Saint-Étienne, with ASSE in danger of relegation following the departure of Alain Perrin.[9] In his first season, Galtier successfully guided ASSE to safety, finishing in 17th place. ASSE finished in the top 10 of Ligue 1 in the seven consecutive seasons of Galtier's tenure, with 4 of those seasons ending in a European place.

In 2013, ASSE defeated Rennes to win the Coupe de la Ligue, their first trophy in 32 years.[10] His European debut as a head coach is a 3–0 home win over Moldovan club Milsami Orhei in the 2013–14 UEFA Europa League qualifying phase on 1 August 2013.[11]

On 9 May 2017, Galtier announced he would be leaving Saint-Étienne at the end of the season upon the expiration of his contract.[12] At that moment he was the longest serving Ligue 1 manager still active, having taken the reins for eight years.[13] On 20 May 2017, he left the club after 361 games, including 147 wins, as Saint-Étienne head coach.

Lille

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Galtier with Lille in 2019

On 22 December 2017, Galtier became the new manager of Lille, who were at the 18th place in the league.[14] However, they eventually avoided relegation places by one point in the 2017–18 season. In the 2018–19 season, he led Lille to finish second and qualify for the next Champions League season, after a seven-year absence.[15]

During the 2020–21 season, Galtier guided Lille to their first Ligue 1 title in 10 years and the fourth in club history.[16] Galtier was praised by many pundits over the course of the season for both his tactics and his ability to develop young talent including Jonathan David, Renato Sanches, and Mike Maignan.[17][18] For his efforts, Galtier was named the Ligue 1 Manager of the Year for a third time.[17] On 25 May 2021, two days after winning the league title, he resigned as manager. He stated: "I simply have the deep belief that my time is up here".[19]

Nice

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On 28 June 2021, Galtier was appointed as the new head coach of fellow Ligue 1 club Nice.[20] In his first season, he led the team to a fifth-place finish and a Coupe de France final, where they lost 1–0 to Nantes.[21][22] Nice qualified for the UEFA Europa Conference League play-off round as a result.[23] He left Nice on 27 June 2022, being replaced by Lucien Favre.[24]

Paris Saint-Germain

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On 5 July 2022, Galtier agreed a two-year deal to become the manager of Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain, replacing Mauricio Pochettino.[25] In his first transfer window, he oversaw the arrivals of Hugo Ekitike, Nordi Mukiele, Fabián Ruiz, Renato Sanches, Carlos Soler, and Vitinha.[26] During his spell at PSG, Galtier won the Ligue 1 and Trophée des Champions.[27][28] He parted ways with the club on 5 July 2023 and was replaced by Luis Enrique.[29]

Al-Duhail

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On 12 October 2023, Galtier became head coach of Qatar Stars League club Al-Duhail.[30]

Personal life

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Galtier is the father of former footballer Jordan Galtier.[31] The family is of Romani descent.[32]

Controversies and arrest

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In April 2023, Galtier was accused of making racist comments whilst Nice manager, which he denied.[33] On 30 June 2023, together with his son John Valovic-Galtier, Galtier was taken into custody by the French police as part of the investigation into suspicions of racial and religious discrimination, at the time of his experience at Nice.[34][35] It was announced that he would face trial in December.[36] Among other things, Galtier allegedly said "Enough Muslims", "Algerians are the worst" and described black people as "King Kong".[37] At the trial he denied the allegations.[38] Galtier was acquitted of the charges by the court.[39]

Managerial statistics

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As of match played 23 November 2024
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team From To Record Ref.
P W D L Win %
Saint-Étienne 15 December 2009 20 May 2017 361 147 109 105 040.7 [40]
Lille 29 December 2017 25 May 2021 152 78 32 42 051.3 [41]
Nice 28 June 2021 27 June 2022 43 23 8 12 053.5 [42]
Paris Saint-Germain 5 July 2022 5 July 2023 50 34 6 10 068.0 [43]
Al-Duhail 12 October 2023 present 45 23 5 17 051.1
Total 651 305 160 186 046.9

Honours

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Player

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Marseille

Manager

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Saint-Étienne

Lille

Nice

Paris Saint-Germain

Individual

References

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  1. ^ "Christophe Galtier: Profile". worldfootball.net. HEIM:SPIEL. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
  2. ^ "Christophe Galtier Most Played Positions". FootballCritic. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
  3. ^ "Palmarés et Réussites". SO Les Caillols (in French). Archived from the original on 5 June 2022. Retrieved 5 July 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  4. ^ "ASSE : le site officiel - AS Saint-Etienne club de Football français". ASSE.fr.
  5. ^ "CG Consulting". Verif.com (in French). Retrieved 29 August 2022.
    "Christophe Galtier". Verif.com (in French). Retrieved 29 August 2022.
  6. ^ "C. Galtier: Summary". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
  7. ^ a b "Christophe Galtier". L'Équipe (in French). Paris. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
  8. ^ "Sochaux: Galtier avec Perrin, Sport 365". Archived from the original on 28 September 2007.
  9. ^ "Richard Tardy, le vrai-faux entraîneur des Verts". foot01.com (in French). 7 March 2010.
  10. ^ Guillemain, Olivier (21 April 2013). "St Etienne lift first trophy in over 30 years". Reuters. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
  11. ^ Gauvin, Fabien (1 August 2013). "Saint-Étienne repart du bon pied". SoFoot.com (in French). Retrieved 10 October 2022.
  12. ^ "Christophe Galtier quitte l'AS Saint-Etienne". ASSE.fr.
  13. ^ White, Adam; Devin, Eric (24 April 2017). "Christophe Galtier is Ligue 1's longest serving manager. But it's now time to go". TheGuardian.com.
  14. ^ ""Accord de principe" entre Christophe Galtier et le Losc". lequipe.fr (in French). 23 December 2017.
  15. ^ "Christophe Galtier meilleur entraîneur français de l'année 2019". lavoixdunord.fr (in French). 6 January 2020.
  16. ^ "Lille win Ligue 1 title as PSG battle goes down to the wire". The Athletic. 23 May 2021.
  17. ^ a b c d "Lille hold their nerve to clinch their first Ligue 1 title for a decade". The Guardian. 23 May 2021. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
  18. ^ "Ligue 1 title for Lille would be miracle of Christophe Galtier's coaching". The Guardian. 22 May 2021. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
  19. ^ "Christophe Galtier leaves French champions Lille two days after winning title". BBC. 25 May 2021. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  20. ^ "Galtier named as OGC Nice Head Coach". www.ogcnice.com. OGC Nice. 28 June 2021. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
  21. ^ "Ligue 1 : "On nous a enlevé cette quatrième place", peste Galtier" [Ligue 1: "We were robbed of this fourth place", complains Galtier]. Le Figaro (in French). 22 May 2022. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
  22. ^ Devin, Eric (9 May 2022). "Redemption for Antoine Kombouaré as Nantes win Coupe de France". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
  23. ^ "Who will fly the French flag in Europe in 2022-23?". Ligue 1. 8 June 202. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
  24. ^ "Nice officialise l'arrivée de Lucien Favre et le départ de Christophe Galtier" [Nice formalizes the arrival of Lucien Favre and the departure of Christophe Galtier] (in French). L'Équipe. 27 June 2022. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
  25. ^ "Christophe Galtier appointed as the new coach of Paris Saint-Germain". Paris Saint-Germain F.C. 5 July 2022. Archived from the original on 5 July 2022. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
  26. ^ "Mercato PSG". DailyMercato. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
  27. ^ a b "European roundup: Messi on target as PSG clinch a record 11th Ligue 1 title". The Guardian. 27 May 2023. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  28. ^ a b "A final, lots of goals and a trophy: a great start to the season!". Paris Saint-Germain F.C. 31 July 2022. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  29. ^ "Le Paris Saint-Germain remercie Christophe Galtier". PSG.FR (in French). 5 July 2023. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
  30. ^ "Former PSG boss Christophe Galtier replaces Hernan Crespo as Al-Duhail manager". BBC Sport. 12 October 2023.
  31. ^ "Jordan Galtier : " Je ne suis pas ici parce que je m'appelle Galtier "". Ligue2.
  32. ^ "Jordan Galtier, le fils de Christophe, débarque au TFC". ici, par France Bleu et France 3 (in French). 28 June 2023. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  33. ^ "PSG boss Galtier denies making racist comments" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  34. ^ "Soccer PSG coach Christophe Galtier arrested for questioning- AFP citing prosecutor". Reuters. 30 June 2023. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
  35. ^ "PSG boss Christophe Galtier 'taken into police custody over alleged racist comments'". talkSPORT. 30 June 2023. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
  36. ^ "PSG boss Galtier to face trial over alleged racism" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  37. ^ "Christophe Galtier accusé de racisme : "Assez de musulmans", "les Algériens sont les pires", joueurs noirs qualifiés de "King Kong"... De lourdes accusations". ladepeche.fr. Retrieved 19 February 2024.
  38. ^ "Galtier denies making racist remarks at French trial" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  39. ^ "Ex-Nice boss Galtier acquitted of racism allegations" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  40. ^ "AS Saint-Étienne: Matches". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
  41. ^ "Lille OSC: Matches". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
  42. ^ "OGC Nice: Matches". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 7 November 2022.
  43. ^ "Paris Saint-Germain F.C.: Matches". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 7 November 2022.
  44. ^ "Coupe de France (Coupe Charles-Simon) 1986/87". RSSSF. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
  45. ^ "Nice 0–1 Nantes: Ludovic Blas penalty wins French Cup for Nantes". BBC Sport. 7 May 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  46. ^ "Le palmarès des entraîneurs français " France Football "". L'Équipe (in French). Retrieved 19 May 2024.
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