Stade Brestois restructure without sporting director, turn to academy pathway | OneFootball

Stade Brestois will not replace sporting director Grégory Lorenzi, who departed after 10 years to join Marseille. The club are reorganising around a shared model with a stronger academy focus after head coach Eric Roy died on 17 June.

Roy, who had pancreatic cancer, worked to the end and backed former assistant Julien Lachuer as successor. He helped shape a more collaborative set-up without a sporting director, reflecting financial realities and perhaps the absence of a suitable candidate. The club said in a statement that president Denis Le Saint would take a more hands-on role with shared governance.

An eight-person steering committee will oversee operations. On the administrative side are Denis Le Saint, co-president Gérard Le Saint, chief executive Pascal Robert and Jules Diatta, a former amateur player and lawyer arriving as director of sports legal affairs to handle player contracts.

The sporting group comprises Lachuer, academy director Nicolas Mariller, youth recruitment chief Loïc Le Pape and Grégory Peres as director of methodology for the academy. Peres previously assisted Olivier Dall’Oglio from 2019 to 2021.

Brest now intend to prioritise players born in or developed at the club, a shift not seen since their 2019 return to the top flight. Until a modern performance centre opens in May 2027, the first team will still need external arrivals.

The recruitment department will be completely renewed, with new staff due to join soon. Christophe Le Roux, 57, formerly Lorient’s recruitment head then sporting director from 2015 to 2022, is strongly linked.

Source: L'Équipe