Paris Saint-Germain were expected to have their best season in history. Instead, it's safe to say that the 2021-22 turned out to be their most disappointing campaign in recent years, despite they regained the Ligue 1 title.
PSG were one of the busiest teams in the summer transfer window, which saw them land Lionel Messi, Sergio Ramos, Gianluigi Donnarumma, among others. However, Mauricio Pochettino failed to get the most of his star-studded squad.
Not only his team performed poorly, but it was unable to bring home the coveted UEFA Champions League. PSG were shockingly eliminated by Real Madrid in the round of 16, and Pochettino's days at the helm seemed numbered since then. However, Nasser Al Khelaifi denied the reports that named Zinedine Zidane as his potential replacement.
Nasser Al Khelaifi says PSG never considered Zinedine Zidane for the manager job
"I'll tell you one thing: we never spoke with him, neither directly nor indirectly," PSG president Al Khelaifi told Le Parisien about the rumors that linked Zidane with PSG, as quoted by Dan Bernstein of Goal.
"Many clubs are interested in him, national teams too, but we have never discussed with him. We have chosen a coach who will be the best for what we want to put in place," Al Khelaifi added.
While Pochettino is still under contract until 2023, it looks like a matter of time before Paris Saint-Germain announce his firing. The former Tottenham boss took over early in 2021, but he didn't deliver the Ligue 1 title in his first season and later failed to get the most out of Lionel Messi, Neymar, and Kylian Mbappe together.
Al Khelaifi suggests who would replace Pochettino at PSG
Reports claim that it's a matter of when and not if PSG will part ways with Pochettino. Zidane, however, no longer seems a candidate as not only he is understood to be waiting to take the reins of France but the club president says he had another man on his radar.
The front office seems to have already decided who is the right man for the job, and that would be Cristophe Galtier. In the same interview with Le Parisien, Al Khelaifi admitted that PSG are interested in the Nice manager.
"We are discussing with Nice, it is not a secret," Al-Khelaifi said. "I hope that we will find an agreement quickly, but I respect Nice and the president [Jean-Pierre] Rivere, everyone defends their interests."
