Christophe Galtier—a coach with a long history in Ligue 1, including a stint at Paris Saint-Germain (2022–2023) before moving to Qatar (Al-Duhail) and Saudi Arabia (Neom SC) in 2025—spoke to the newspaper Le Parisien in an interview published this Thursday. It was an opportunity to reflect on his time at PSG and the club’s evolution, particularly under the guidance of coach Luis Enrique.
Galtier: “I never imagined becoming the PSG coach.”
What is your takeaway from your time at PSG?
Nothing but positives. It was a great experience. I never imagined becoming the PSG coach. Looking back, I might have a few regrets; I could probably have handled certain situations better.
Galtier: “He has a great grasp of many factors, and I really admire what he is achieving.”
Luis Enrique?
He has a great grasp of many factors, and I really admire what he is achieving. I also admire Luis Campos’s ability to build a squad that reflects the coach’s vision—something he couldn’t do when we arrived in 2022. Together with President Nasser Al-Khelaïfi, they shifted their recruitment strategy toward a young, talented, and dynamic team that aligns with Luis Enrique’s philosophy. They are a joy to watch.
Galtier: “The club enjoys incredible goodwill.”
In 1993, France was all about Olympique de Marseille; today, France is all about PSG. The club enjoys incredible goodwill. The credit goes to Luis Enrique, a coach with an incredible mastery of the elite level. He is uncompromising; he puts the team above everyone else. And when the team comes before everyone else, you get results, and the players are forced to push themselves beyond their limits.”
As for his own tenure, Galtier avoids dwelling on the negatives, as usual—even though he admits he could have done “better” in certain areas. There are undoubtedly points he prefers not to bring up, or perhaps shouldn’t elaborate on. However, a recurring issue throughout his time there—right from day one—was his tendency to emphasize that he never even imagined holding the job in the first place.
It created the impression that the role was a gift that came out of nowhere. That makes it difficult to establish authority over some of the world’s best players. Indeed, he often avoided challenging them and seemed to position himself as subordinate to the club or parts of the squad. It is only logical, then, that he failed to build a cohesive team unit.
Luis Enrique arrived with a very different stance, aided significantly by a shift in philosophy within PSG’s management—which had previously shared that same flaw of placing players on too high a pedestal. Since 2023, the priority has been clear: the club and the collective come first. If a player refuses to buy into the coach’s vision, they are sidelined and encouraged to leave. Furthermore, no player—no matter how talented—is signed unless they appear fully committed during negotiations to join PSG.
All of this is designed to underpin an attacking philosophy characterized by high pressing and match control. That is not to say they don’t attract immense talent; however, players now join for the sporting project and team trophies rather than for individual spotlight. Ultimately, this actually helps them shine brighter, as the team itself is much stronger. Now that the… PSG is working towards that; things are running more smoothly.
Paris is also attracting more admiration. Perhaps Galtier is going a bit too far, as detractors still exist—particularly due to the spending since the project began and the Qatari involvement. But there is certainly far more goodwill than there was a few years ago; that is undeniable.
