He waited more than two months to give his first interview to the press. The words of Florent Ghisolfi, the sporting director of OGC Nice whose arrival was made official on 5 October, are obviously important. Clear and precise, the former RC Lens man remains the cornerstone of the sporting project of the Gym today and, above all, of the Gym of tomorrow. This is what he tried to explain to Vincent Menichini and Régis Testelin for more than an hour in Marbella. Here are a few extracts from an interview that has the feel of a roadmap, to be found in full in today's Nice-Matin and L'Équipe.

"It's always a good feeling when INEOS and Nice come"

After going over his departure from RC Lens, Florent Ghisolfi spoke about the reasons for his arrival in the Cote d'Azur: "When I received the interest from OGC Nice, driven by Dave Brailsford, the president Jean-Pierre Rivère and Fabrice Bocquet, I asked myself the first questions. I acted instinctively and my first feeling was positive. Then I had to listen again to what the project was. I was coming to the end of a three-year cycle at Lens (May 2019-September 2022). We did great things, beyond our expectations. It was a difficult decision, I knew what I was losing at Lens. It is a professional choice and a life choice that I was committed to. It was made at the right time." A choice he does not regret, after 6 weeks with the Red and Black: "I have met positive people who are committed to the club and love it. On a human level, there is real satisfaction. We have to take the club to a higher standard and towards performance, in all areas. It will take some time, we have to go step by step. Good things have been done, good things are being done, but we have a real margin for improvement."

"Nice is a club that demands desire and commitment, it's cultural"

Later in the interview, Florent Ghisolfi returned to his decision, highlighting a driving force in his choice and in the structuring of the club: "The Niçoise identity speaks to me. There is a similarity between Lens and Nice, it may seem to be the opposite, but in the culture, there are similarities, they are two clubs with a strong identity. Nice is a club that demands desire and commitment, it's cultural and that's good because it suits me. But we also have our owner, Ineos, so we must take it into account in our identity. Ineos stands for discretion, humility and performance. Our identity must therefore also be professional and performance-oriented.” All of this is based on a great discipline: "There is nothing worse than not respecting the institution. We are all employees of the club, soldiers of OGC Nice. I won't tolerate anyone going outside this framework", warns the SD.

"Lucien has our full support"

The sporting director also gave his opinion on the current season: "Not everything has been perfect, that's obvious. We shared our analysis with Lucien (Favre), I went to see him in Switzerland during the break to tell him that we wanted to continue the adventure together, while strengthening the staff. Lucien is our coach, he is under contract (until June 2024, ed.), he has our full support. We want to build around him and make up for some of the shortcomings we have identified.” There is a desire to see the Gym perform on all fronts. "If we base ourselves on expected points, we should be 7th in Ligue 1. We're not far from being in our place given our purely sporting output. It's up to us to find the levers to make everything more efficient. Everything remains possible. In the league, we have to finish as high as possible, without setting ourselves any precise objectives. We have to concentrate on the means to be successful every weekend and not say to ourselves "We have to...". There is the Coupe de France, the club had a magnificent adventure last season. We also have the chance to be in the last 16 of a European Cup. We will put all our energy into continuing our journey. Europe is prestigious and important, yes. It is important to us in the construction of our project. The Conference League is wide open."

The Gym of tomorrow

The former midfielder also set out how he sees the Gym of the future. He opposed the principle of "recruiting stars" to the notions of performance and the collective. "For me, Ineos is not associated with sports stars but with performance and the elite. In every case, they are hard workers. In the marathon, we are not in the business of stardom but of work. Rather than talking about great players, I prefer to talk about a great team. I'm not interested in the names but in what the player brings to the team, his state of mind, his compatibility. It's going to happen in stages." Citing Leipzig and Atalanta as models, "which have become clubs that regularly play in the Champions League without having a star player policy", Florent Ghisolfi continued. "What is a star? A great player is one who will perform. When he signs he can be unknown and then become a great player for us. On the other hand, you can recruit a name that will delight people by performing for two weeks before fading away. We've had them at every club. My objective is to find players who will be great players at OGC Nice and build a successful team. To draw a parallel, the arrival at Lens of Seko Fofana embodied the project. When Paris brought in (Zlatan) Ibrahimovic it was because he embodied the Parisian project of the Qataris. Ibrahimovic corresponded to the identity of Paris-SG, a hard worker and a great professional. It's up to us to find these players."

From the next transfer window? "I want to move forward quickly but we have to keep a cool head to make the best decisions. The reality is that this squad has great qualities. We can possibly make some adjustments in one or more positions. But it will depend on departures because the group is too large. We want to work with a tight squad. Piling up players would be counterproductive. We'll go through this transfer window with patience, there's no rush. Lucien (Favre) knows that.”

From the next transfer window? "I want to move forward quickly but we have to keep a cool head to make the best decisions. The reality is that this squad has great qualities. We can possibly make some adjustments in one or more positions. But it will depend on departures because the group is too large. We want to work with a tight squad. Piling up players would be counterproductive. We'll go through this transfer window with patience, there's no rush. Lucien (Favre) knows that.”

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