During the unveiling of the new OGC Nice manager, chairman Jean-Pierre Rivère assessed the direction taken by the club.  

What can you tell us about Francesco Farioli’s arrival?
We’re happy to have him with us. I’d like to make it clear that Florent Ghisolfi has done a remarkable job behind the scenes. As always with transfer windows, things are very intense, and the days are full-on. It’s not easy to find a coach, who is often the cornerstone of a project. It’s a very important position and a key element of the club’s future. I’m convinced, as is the board, that this is the right choice and that we’ll get a lot of enjoyment from watching our team play. That’s the aim. I’m confident that this will be a great year with Francesco at the helm.

Is the aim still to compete with PSG?
The aim that was stated at one point, which was to be behind PSG, is no longer relevant for various reasons, particularly the fact that the Financial Fair Play Regulations in France are slightly complicated. OGC Nice’s revenue is, for the moment, insufficient. We’re embarking on a very clearly identified project, and we’re getting back to the “basics” that we had in the past. We have the means to work; we’re staying ambitious, of course, and the aim is to be among the clubs qualifying for Europe at the end of the season. It’s an interesting project. Florent has worked on structuring it over the last few months, and Francesco’s arrival perfectly matches what has been set up in that time. We also need to recognise that over the last four years, we’ve rather under-achieved. Now, we’ll try to over-achieve a little bit.

Does INEOS’s potential takeover of Manchester United change the project at all?
No, not at all. We’ve made sure to build a project that is completely independent of the outcome of that, which we don’t know. The project that we’ve built at Nice absolutely does not depend on Manchester United. What the club’s owners, INEOS, want is to keep working smoothly with OGC Nice on the project as we’ve defined it and built it, and I think that we have all the right foundations on which to work.

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