Christophe Galtier

Early life and playing career

Christophe Galtier was born on 23 August 1966 in Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône. 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.

Coaching career

Assistant coach (1999–2009)

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).

Saint-Étienne

In December 2009, Galtier was appointed the head coach of Saint-Étienne, with ASSE in danger of relegation following the departure of Alain Perrin. 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. 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.

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

Lille

On 22 December 2017, Galtier became the new manager of Lille, who were at the 18th place in the league. 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.

During the 2020–21 season, Galtier guided Lille to their first Ligue 1 title in 10 years and the fourth in club history. 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. For his efforts, Galtier was named the Ligue 1 Manager of the Year for a third time.

Nice

On 28 June 2021, Galtier was appointed as the new head coach of fellow Ligue 1 club Nice. 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. Nice qualified for the UEFA Europa Conference League play-off round as a result. He left Nice on 27 June 2022, being replaced by Lucien Favre.

Paris Saint-Germain

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

Al-Duhail

On 12 October 2023, Galtier became head coach of Qatar Stars League club Al-Duhail. On May 27 2025, Galtier left the club after they decided not to renew his contract after Al-Duhail side finished second in the league, two points behind Al-Sadd, who beat them in the Qatar Cup final on penalties. They also exited the Emir Cup early.

Neom

On 5 July 2025, Gaultier was appointed as a new manager for the newly-promoted Saudi Pro League club Neom.

Personal life

Galtier is the father of former footballer Jordan Galtier. The family is of Romani descent.

Controversies and arrest

In April 2023, Galtier was accused of making racist comments whilst Nice manager, which he denied. 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. It was announced that he would face trial in December. Among other things, Galtier allegedly said "Enough Muslims", "Algerians are the worst" and described black people as "King Kong". At the trial he denied the allegations. Galtier was acquitted of the charges by the court.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

Marseille

• Coupe de France runner-up: 1986–87

Manager

Saint-Étienne

• Coupe de la Ligue: 2012–13

Lille

• Ligue 1: 2020–21

Nice

• Coupe de France runner-up: 2021–22

Paris Saint-Germain

• Ligue 1: 2022–23
• Trophée des Champions: 2022

Al-Duhail

• Qatari Stars Cup: 2024–25

Individual

• Ligue 1 Manager of the Year: 2012–13 (joint), 2018–19, 2020–21
• French Manager of the Year: 2019, 2021

References

References

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