The welcome protocol at La Piverdière and Roazhon Park will wait, due to the health crisis. But Stade Rennais is holding its new president. It is Nicolas Holveck, officially appointed this Wednesday by the Breton club. The Red and Blacks have been looking for a new executive boss since the surprise departure of Olivier Létang on February 7. Jacques Delanoë, current chairman of the board of directors and close to the Pinault family, previously served in the interim. The owners have given themselves time to choose their new strong man.
Gauthier Ganaye (ex-OGC Nice), Olivier Pickeu (on the departure from Angers), Damien Comolli (passed by Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham, Saint-Étienne, Fenerbahçe), Vincent Tong-Cuong (ex-Saint-Etienne) but also Pierre Ruello, the son of former Rennes president René Ruello, many names have circulated on the banks of the Ille-et-Vilaine. It was finally Nicolas Holveck who landed in Brittany. Well, not immediately, since the former deputy director general of AS Monaco - he left office on March 6 - is currently confined to the Rock.
"I will very quickly work with Julien Stéphan in order to help him and his players to prepare the best for the end of the season, when sanitary conditions allow it again," says the new executive president of the Breton club. Our only objective is to do everything possible so that these last ten games allow us to enter the history of the club. Namely, keep the current 3rd place in the classification synonymous with the preliminary round of the Champions League. Unheard of in Rennes.
Ascension to Nancy and key position in Monaco
Aged 48, Nicolas Holveck was one of the linchpins of the happy years of AS Monaco Rybolovlev version. Hired in 2014 by Vadim Vasilyev at AS Nancy-Lorraine - arrived as an intern in 1997, he had climbed the ladder one by one to finish as vice-president of ASNL -, the Vosgien with clear eyes occupied the position of general manager assistant, in charge in particular of contracts and negotiations in the field of recruitment. A key position for a club that has erected player trading into a model, with the results - sports and financial - that we know but also controversial methods. Proof of his importance and / or his interpersonal skills, Holveck was one of the rare survivors of the great purge carried out a year ago by Dimitri Rybolovlev and marked by the fall of Vasilyev, replaced by Oleg Petrov.
No interference in sports
While Olivier Létang paid a high price for the deterioration of his relations with Julien Stéphan, his successor, more distant from the field, will keep his distance. “I have been seeing matches for over twenty years, but I am not a technician. I'm not the one who could pretend to say if Dupont is better than Durant. I can give an opinion but it is only an opinion and I let the technicians decide, ”he explains to Ouest France . He and the club will work to recruit a sports director.
It will not be Florian Maurice, retained by Jean-Michel Aulas in Lyon. Perhaps Gilles Grimandi, former Arsenal recruiter and short-term technical director of Nice last year. "It will take someone to fill this gap between Julien and me so that we are the most complete team possible," continues Holveck. And it will be the priority for the next few days. Don't waste time. We have to prepare next season very quickly. We need this person very quickly. Because Julien also needs someone to talk to, someone who can help and support him. Which brings him good players too, the priority. ” When it comes to negotiations, Hovleck will do it.
Read also
- Ligue 1 ranking