Former Crystal Palace and Nice manager Patrick Vieira is reportedly set to take over as Strasbourg head coach on a three-year contract.
The 47-year-old has been away from the dugout since being sacked by Crystal Palace in March, departing with the Eagles languishing in 12th place in the Premier League table.
Vieira was given the boot after overseeing a miserable 12-game winless run to start 2023, and his Palace side failed to score in four successive games prior to his exit.
Since exiting the Eagles, Vieira has been strongly linked with the vacant hotseat at Leeds United, who are searching for a successor to Sam Allardyce following their return to the Championship.
However, according to The Athletic, Vieira is in pole position to become Strasbourg's new manager and is set to join Les Coureurs on a three-year deal until 2026.
© Reuters
Frederic Antonetti was the most recent man to take charge of the French club, overseeing 15 games between February and May after taking over from Julien Stephan.
Stephan - who succeeded the long-serving Thierry Laurey in 2021 - guided Strasbourg to an unexpected sixth-placed finish in the 2021-22 Ligue 1 season, as Les Coureurs missed out on European football by just three points.
However, Strasbourg's form took a nosedive in the 2022-23 season, as they dropped to 15th in the table and only staved off relegation to the second tier by five points.
The report claims that Vieira's switch to the Stade de la Meinau was agreed on Thursday, and the Ligue 1 outfit could confirm the Frenchman's appointment at the weekend.
Vieira's proposed move comes after Strasbourg were taken over by Chelsea's owners, as Blues chairman Todd Boehly aims to build a multi-club conglomerate.
© Reuters
Strasbourg will become the fourth senior team to be managed by Vieira, who made his first foray into coaching with Manchester City's youth teams after retiring as a player in 2011.
The 47-year-old spent two-and-a-half years at New York City before becoming Nice manager in the summer of 2018, winning 35 of his 89 matches at the helm.
Vieira guided Nice into the 2020-21 Europa League, but he was let go by Les Aiglons in December 2020 following a five-game winless run and subsequently replaced Roy Hodgson at Palace in 2021.
Under the Frenchman's tutelage, Palace reached the semi-finals of the 2021-22 FA Cup - suffering a 2-0 loss to Chelsea - and he departed with a record of 22 wins, 24 draws and 28 defeats from 74 games.
Following Vieira's sacking, the returning Hodgson guided Palace to five wins from their final 10 Premier League fixtures, lifting them one place higher into 11th.
