Olivier Létang lines up Bruno Genesio’s successor at Lille | OneFootball

Olivier Létang began the search for Bruno Genesio’s successor before the coach’s departure was made official on Monday night, and is believed to have identified a replacement. According to L'Équipe, Davide Ancelotti is considered the most credible option.

Létang intends to control the timing of any announcement, with the chosen name yet to leak. The Lille president is determined to unveil the decision on his terms.

Several candidates have been discussed. Thiago Motta, 43, has been out of work since leaving Juventus Turin on 23 March 2025, but he has not been contacted by Lille despite his Paris Saint-Germain links with Létang from 2012-2018, and their temperaments are viewed as hard to align.

The Italian route viewed as likeliest leads to Davide Ancelotti, 36, son of Brazil’s head coach. After a spell at Botafogo, he assisted for Brazil’s World Cup warm-ups against France, a 1-2 defeat on 26 March, and Croatia, a 3-1 win on 31 March.

Létang knows Carlo Ancelotti well from their Paris-SG days between 2011 and 2013, when he was assistant sporting director and Ancelotti was head coach, and he often describes himself as a friend of the Italian. He is also close to Laurent Blanc, who is currently unattached.

Even so, Davide Ancelotti remains the leading track. Internally, Dimitri Farbos, 37, an assistant to Genesio for more than 10 years, has supporters and wants to step up, and Toulouse studied his profile before appointing Jens Berthel Askou to replace Carles Martinez Novell. A coach working in Belgium is also being considered, though no name has been cited.

Source: L'Équipe