Metz consider Stéphane Gilli as coaching option in push for swift Ligue 1 return | OneFootball

Stéphane Gilli could become the next Metz head coach. According to L'Équipe, the club have contacted the former Paris FC coach to present a plan focused on a rapid return to Ligue 1.

Metz are stepping up their hunt after their return to Ligue 2. Benoît Tavenot signed off with a 0-0 draw at Nice on Sunday.

With initial target Olivier Pantaloni, the ex-Lorient coach, appearing hard to hire, Gilli, 52, is viewed as a plausible option. He was replaced on 22 February at Paris FC, having been a leading figure in their promotion to Ligue 1 months earlier.

In mid-April he said he was seeking a realistic project consistent with his ideas, indicating he was ready to return with a club or a national team, amid interest in France and abroad.

Aware that priority targets could land elsewhere, Metz remain open to other options. Grégory Proment, 47, admired by former president Carlo Molinari, has been discussed internally in recent hours, Le Républicain Lorrain reported.

Proment has coached Clermont since July last year. He came through at Metz, spent nine years there, returned for a final season, then led their reserves from 2018 to 2021.

Another candidate is Belgian coach Frédéric Taquin, 50, whose CV has been submitted. He will be free in early July after nine years at La Louvière, where he kept the club in the Belgian top flight.

Source: L'Équipe