Everton handed setback in Christophe Galtier quest - Report
Everton have reportedly been handed a blow in their hopes to hire Ligue 1-winning manager Christophe Galtier, who was understood to be in the running for the vacant Goodison Park seat.
According to Get French Football News, the reports linking ex-Lille boss Galtier to the Everton job [BeFoot] are not true and he is set to become the OGC Nice manager.
This update comes after reports surfaced that Lille had brought down the compensation for the manager to £4m [20 Minutes]. At that point, it appeared that Everton were in the mix for the 54-year-old.
However, having given his word to Nice and agreeing on a deal in principle a few weeks ago, he is not expected to go back on it and will sign with the Ligue 1 side instead of challenging himself to manage in the Premier League.
Major disappointment
Given some of the names being linked with the job, it's a huge setback that Galtier is now almost ruled out of the race.
He's proven to be a manager who's worked with limited resources and ensured his team always punched above their weight.
At Everton, it's usually been the opposite. We've often had the tools, good summer windows and decent youth players, but have failed to deliver the results when it mattered the most.
Signing Galtier would've been a step in the right direction to rectify that. In 2009, he took over a relegation-threatened AS Saint-Etienne and saved them from the drop.
From the following season, he guided the club to seven straight top-10 finishes - four of which helped them qualify for Europe.
He also broke records at the club that haven't been broken for 40 years before coming to Lille and achieving miracles including winning the title and eventually bidding farewell to the champions.
The Times' football journalist Phil Gordon has labelled the manager as 'priceless'.
We're surprised Marcel Brands hasn't pushed harder for Galtier, and hopefully, it's not a decision he regrets in the future.
In other Everton news, Simon Jordan blasts manager reportedly wanted by Everton in talkSPORT rant