Wilfried Nancy is ‘on the brink’ of becoming Celtic manager.
The left-field candidate is currently in charge of Columbus Crew in MLS, and his side have granted permission for the Hoops to open discussions with their number one target.
His style of play has been compared to his predecessor, Brendan Rodgers, but there are key differences in the kind of possession-based football that the two want to play.
One thing for sure is that Celtic will look different under Nancy, should the job be his. Martin O’Neill remains in temporary charge for now.
Nancy is not known to the majority of Celtic fans – but he was known to Pep Guardiola when he met him. Nancy reflected on the conversation with Men in Blazers.
Celtic target Wilfried Nancy on meeting Pep Guardiola
A number of Premier League clubs were in the US last summer – so too were Celtic, and they got a lot of joy from their friendlies with Manchester City and Chelsea.
Shortly after his friendly encounter with Rodgers’ side, Guardiola took his City team to train at Columbus’ stadium, where he met Nancy, just after the Crew had hammered Aston Villa 4-1.
READ MORE: Celtic target Wilfried Nancy reveals controversial dark-arts tactic from his last MLS win
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As any coach would be, the Frenchman was obviously desperate to ask a million questions – but he was humbled to find that the City boss was keen to hear from him too.
He told Men in Blazers: “It was amazing. First of all, you have to understand that he broke the ice right away.
“He told me ‘Hey Wilfried, you have to tell me the recipe to beat Aston Villa, because we didn’t do it! We should be doing that.’
“I said ‘yeah, Pep, come on.’ And after that, it started from there, and it was a great connection. I asked him questions, not about the way he plays, because I can see that. But the management.
“How he deals with players, the fact that you cannot put every player on the pitch. This is difficult to manage. He told me that, ‘yeah, this is football.’
“This is football, but you have to also be convinced that this is the best way to do it – but at the same time, you have to be good with the human beings.
“At certain moments you have to explain, sometimes not, but at the end of the day, this is a culture that you put in place. Which is going to be good for the players to accept, or not, this kind of situation.
“And after that, yes, we talked about tactics a bit. Not a bit, a lot! The way he changed the system and so on, and why he wants to play like that and so on.
“It was amazing. Because at the end of the day, this is not the same level, but this is the same sport, and we coach human beings, and we have the same problems.
“He was so…. nice. To ask me also ‘Hey, tell me about the league. Tell me how you feel. Tell me about your staff, how you work, and so on.’
“It was not only me talking. And for me, it was amazing. Because this is the type of person that I want to be, and I try to be.”
Wilfried Nancy, Pep Guardiola and Celtic in the USA, summer 2024
Columbus’ friendly with Villa was eventually costly for Nancy, as MLS registration rules connected to the match ended up forcing him to play 45 minutes against Seattle Sounders with an outfielder in goal a few weeks later.
City would beat Chelsea 4-2 at the Ohio stadium, as Guardiola stood in the opposite dugout to disciple Enzo Maresca for the first time.
As for Celtic, they put four past City, Chelsea and DC United in a very enjoyable few weeks.
But it was sadly an unrecognisable Celtic team to the one we see now, with Rodgers, Kyogo Furuhashi, Nicolas Kuhn and Matt O’Riley no longer at the club.