PSG boss Laurent Blanc extends contract
Apr 17, 2016 at 12:11 PM
Paris Saint-Germain manager Laurent Blanc has finally put an end to all the rumours regarding his future by completing a new two-year deal with the French champions.
PSG later announced the news on their website at 7 a.m. on Thursday morning.
The club clarified that 50-year-old Laurent Blanc had signed the necessary papers at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, just few hours before his team defeated Lyon 3-0 in the last 16 tie of the Coupe de France.
However there was hand full of speculations as Blanc entered in the final few months of his on-going contract and was even discussing a fresh agreement since last December.
PSG president Nasser al-Khelaifi has now offered a massive vote of confidence to the former France manager ahead of the Ligue 1 leaders’ Champions League last 16 tie with Chelsea next week.
“It is with great pleasure that I have just extended my contract as coach of Paris Saint-Germain,” Blanc told.
“I would like to thank the club for the faith that has been put in me. Since the beginning, I have felt honoured to work for such an ambitious club and it is extremely satisfying to coach such talented players.
“I hope that I can continue to make Paris Saint-Germain a brilliant and respected ambassador of French football.”
The new deal sees Blanc staying with the club until the summer of 2018, something which Al-Khelaifi revealed he was “extremely proud and happy to see.”
Laurent Blanc est désormais lié au club de la capitale jusqu’au 30 juin 2018. #LaurentBlanc2018 pic.twitter.com/lDVODnJOlh
— PSG Officiel (@PSG_inside) February 11, 2016
“Over the past three years, our coach and his staff are writing with their team a glorious page of the club’s history, winning trophies and setting records,” the PSG chairman and CEO further said.
“All conditions are clearly there to opt for stability. I always trusted him as well as believed in his ability to keep taking our team higher each season, while at the same time having them play a beautiful style of football that our fans, and football fans in general, really enjoy.”
After replacing Carlo Ancelotti in June 2013, Blanc guided PSG to back-to-back league trophies and has now become the French club’s most successful ever manager.
Last season PSG managed to complete a clean sweep of the domestic titles on offer, which meant Blanc has won eight trophies since his arrival at the French capital.
However, the ex-Bordeaux boss was not even PSG’s first choice before being handed over the charge and their failure to reach beyond the quarterfinal stage of the Champions League had put him under severe pressure.
But Blanc then proved his doubters wrong by bringing in an attractive style of football and proving his credibility of managing a star packed dressing room.
His side have been even more dominant in France this season. They are currently 24 points clear at the top of Ligue 1, have reached the Coupe de la Ligue final again and are still standing in the Coupe de France as well.