Le Parisien report that Ligue 1 side Lille are now targeting Italian tactician Claudio Ranieri as a matter of priority to replace manager Christophe Galtier, who has left the domestic title-winning side for OGC Nice.
Lille President Létang has moved to delay the start of pre-season, which was initially fixed for 28th June, as the club is without a manager.
A month out from 1st August, when LOSC play PSG in the Trophée des Champions, in Tel Aviv, Lille need to get a move on.
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Patrick Vieira (Crystal Palace), Laurent Blanc (Al-Rayyan) and Lucien Favre (unattached) have all turned down the opportunity.
Ranieri knows Ligue 1 well, having been at AS Monaco from 2012-14 and at Nantes from 2017-18.
Ranieri, 69, is very attracted to the idea of playing Champions’ League football with Lille – he could arrive with Paolo Benetti as an assistant, Andrea Azzalin as a fitness coach and Paolo Orlandoni as a goalkeeping coach.
Decisive talks in the coming hours.