Mostafa Mohamed believes Nantes can challenge for European football | OneFootball

FC Nantes are used to fighting for their survival in Ligue 1. An 18th-place finish in 2020-21, 16th in 22/23, 14th in 23-24, and 13th in 24-25, Les Canaris are regulars in the bottom half of the standings. Some of those finishes give a warped perception of how difficult those seasons have been, with a string of late results saving them from the drop two years ago.

Currently, Nantes sit in 16th under new manager Luís Castro. Since arriving to replace Antoine Kombouaré over the summer, the former ULS Dunkerque manager has one win in his first five games in Ligue 1; in that time, they have lost on three occasions, although those losses have come against teams expected to be fighting for the European places (Paris Saint-Germain, OGC Nice, RC Strasbourg Alsace).

Speaking to Ouest-France, however, Mostafa Mohamed believes that Nantes could be in the running for European qualification this season. The key, for him, has been the managerial change.

“Kombouaré is the worst manager that I have ever had. If he stayed, I would have left,” began the Egyptian forward. “He is the one under whom I thought about leaving. I put that out there. When Luís Castro arrived, I immediately felt that he believed in me, so I decided to stay.”

He continued, “You’ll see this year, Nantes won’t play to stay up, they’ll compete for European qualification.”

GFFN | Luke Entwistle