OGC Nice is proud to announce that it has named 34-year-old Francesco Farioli as its new first-team manager. Farioli will take charge of the squad from Monday, when the players return for the start of pre-season training.

The Tuscan joins after a spell in Turkey, where he managed Fatih Karagümrük and, until February this year, Alanyaspor. “Francesco has unanimous support from us and perfectly matches the direction that we wish to take,” explained club president Jean-Pierre Rivère. “He’s an extremely promising manager with a lot of quality, both as a professional and as a person, and one who has already succeeded in making his mark on his previous clubs. We wish him welcome.”

A product of the Italian school of thought, having been Roberto De Zerbi’s assistant at Sassuolo and Benevento as well as enjoying stints within the Italian Football Federation and at Qatar’s Aspire Academy, Farioli has given all of his teams an attractive identity, putting player development at the heart of his management style. “He has a modern style and a methodology that we can identify with,” underlined Florent Ghisolfi, Le Gym’s sporting director. “Our analysis of the teams that he has managed as well as our many discussions with Francesco about the playing style that he wants to implement were what guided our decision. Possession, aggression with and without the ball, the ability to defend high up the pitch, forward passing, getting numbers into the opposition box… He moulds his teams with the intensity that we’re looking for, and he’ll be able to count on our performance department’s expertise to serve that aim.”

The Italian coach, who holds a degree in philosophy, is eager to get stuck in: “Being the new OGC Nice manager is an immense honour. I’ve known about and followed the club’s development for years. The infrastructure is there, and the people in place are competent and determined; everything is geared towards us achieving great things together. To do so, we’ll need hard work and humility.”

With Farioli’s arrival, OGC Nice would like to thank Didier Digard for acting as the team’s interim head coach since January. A true club man and a top-quality manager, Digard will remain at Le Gym, who have entrusted him to take charge of the newly formed “elite” academy squad.

 

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