Kantari had been in the role as an interim appointment since early December after the club fired his predecessor Jorge Maciel and his coaching staff after recording only one victory in the league since the start of the campaign. 

The club find themselves in a dire situation and they remain eight points adrift of safety with half of their league fixtures played. 

Results have hardly improved since Maciel departed and Kantari is yet to find the team’s second win in the league. Two losses and a victory in the Coupe de France over a team three divisions below them have not been a great start for the new manager. 

It looks highly likely that VAFC will be relegated at the end of the season with four clubs being demoted into the Championnat National this year and results yet to improve for the struggling team. 

GFFN | Nick Hartland

L’Alsace reported that the game was stopped after only eight minutes of play when the police allegedly attempted to arrest a Mulhouse supporter in possession of a pyrotechnic device.

Fights between the police and the ultras groups broke out as they attempted to arrest this individual, to which the police responded by using tear gas. 

The gas then quickly spread to the surrounding sections of the stadium leading to a partial evacuation of the ground, with some people needing treatment from the emergency services present at the Stade de L’Ill due to the teargas, while a police officer suffered minor injuries to the face. 

This led to a delay of twenty minutes before the game between the side from the Championnat National 3 and their Ligue 2 visitors could be resumed. 

Valenciennes’ struggles in Ligue 2 looked to continue as they needed penalties to progress to the next round against an opposition three divisions below them after the game finished 1-1. 

GFFN | Nick Hartland

The report follows revelations in Foot Mercato last week. According to the French publication, Chorley, in his bid to sign Celtic centre-back Ismaila Soro (25), looked to take the player’s French agent, affiliated with the FFF, off the deal and replace him with an English intermediary. This is an illegal practice, and risks alerting the FFF, who may now proceed to launch an enquiry into Chorley’s methods. 

It is therefore a difficult start to Chorley’s time as sporting director of Valenciennes. On the pitch, the club succumbed to a hefty 4-1 defeat at home to AJ Auxerre on the opening day of the Ligue 2 season. 

The status of Soro’s move from Celtic to Valenciennes is unknown, but prior to Chorley’s attempts to insert a British intermediary into the deal, the transfer had looked set to be completed. 

GFFN | Luke Entwistle

The Ivory Coast international’s contract at Celtic is set to expire at the end of the season, and according to Foot Mercato, he already had agreed to join Valenciennes in France. Whilst the transfer looked on course for completion, an illegal practice has put the deal in danger. 

Foot Mercato report that Valenciennes attempted to sideline Soro’s French agent and replace him with an English intermediary. This is an illegal practice and one which could push the French agent, who is affiliated with the FFF (French Football Federation) to press charges. 

Should this report be proven, it is unclear whether it will prevent Soro’s move from going through altogether. Soro, who joined Celtic from Israeli side Bnei Yehuda for €2.3m back in January 2020, has played 24 matches in the Scottish top-flight. 

GFFN | Luke Entwistle

The incumbent president Eddy Zdziech, meanwhile, is looking to buy out all of the minority shares ahead of the club’s prospective sale, in an operation which is expected to cost €2m. The move will give Zdziech full control over the club ahead of their hearing with the DNCG, French football’s financial watchdog, who have been made aware of the sale process.

The club will have a deficit of €3.5m to shore up this summer, while Sport Republic intend to invest €15m into the club straight away. Former defender Milan Biševac is said to have facilitated discussions between the Valenciennes board and the fund’s lead investor, Dragan Šolak.

Zdziech, who is opposed by the majority of the Ligue 2 club’s supporters, would like to extend his 9-year stay at the club in some capacity after the takeover, as well as guaranteeing a position for his son Cédric. Although Sport Republic did not overhaul the personnel at Southampton when they took over the now-Championship club last year, the first point of order at Valenciennes will be to appoint a new manager.

Several Ligue 2 clubs have shown an interest in loaning the 2019-2020 Ligue 2 season’s second-best goalscorer with Clermont. The following season, Lorient purchased Grbić for €9m on a five-year deal, but the Austrian never made his mark with the Brittany outfit. He was loaned out to Dutch side Vitesse Arnhem, for which he scored only one goal in 22 games, one year ago before returning to Lorient last summer. Caen were in talks with Grbić and the player even traveled to Normandy to seal his loan, but the Austrian international wanted guarantees regarding his game time, something that was not to the liking of Caen’s hierarchy.

GFFN | Bastien Cheval

https://twitter.com/VAFC/status/1618914147244314624

The French U19 international left-winger has made two appearances for Marseille this season, playing five minutes in the Coupe de France and three minutes in Ligue 1. The loan move will provide him with more playing time and an opportunity to gain more experience.

Bordeaux was reportedly in the lead for his loan move, but the Nord outfit will be where the Saint-Tropez-born winger will develop his skills. Salim Ben Seghir may feature with the Nicolas Rabuel-led Valenciennes side against third-placed Metz tomorrow evening for Ligue 2 gameweek 20.

GFFN | Bastien Cheval

Bajic had been on the radar of Valenciennes’ goalkeeping coach and former Saint-Étienne man Jérémie Janot, who had worked with the young shot-stopper when he was in the youth ranks of Les Verts. This interest has culminated in a loan move, which sees the player of Serbian descent back in France’s Ligue 2, where he had previously played at Pau FC.

Valenciennes sit 11th in the second division at the halfway point in the season, looking to make their return to the French top flight for the first time in almost 10 years. They have played in Ligue 2 since 2014/15, after relegation in 2013/14 saw them end their eight-season run in Ligue 1.

GFFN | Brendan Cox

Les Athéniens would seek a loan move for the 21-year-old, who has appeared only once in the EFL Cup for Bristol, in a 3-1 defeat to Lincoln City in the third round. Previously, the goalkeeper of Serbian descent had been at both Saint-Étienne and Pau FC in France’s second division, before a move to Bristol in summer of last year.

Valenciennes sit 11th in Ligue 2 but have the sixth-best goalkeeping record in the league, having conceded just under one goal per game (18 goals in 19 games). Bristol City, however, sit 17th of 24 in the Championship, only six points above the relegation zone, where Bajic is neither first nor second-choice in the league. Both Englishman (and team captain) Daniel Bentley and Irishman Max O’Leary have been ahead of Bajic in goal for The Robins this campaign.

GFFN | Brendan Cox

The Frenchman currently earns the highest salary at the club, and was supposed to play a big role in the Berlin side’s push for European football which ultimately fell flat – with the club finishing 14th and 16th in the Bundesliga in recent years. 

Still, Tousart has played 62 games in the last two seasons in midfield but has played under five different coaches in that time. Whilst still enjoying his time away from France, the player is reportedly open to a move before the end of the transfer window.

The former Valenciennes midfielder made the move from Lyon to the German side in 2020 for a transfer fee of €23m. the former France U21 played 165 games for Lyon in which he scored six goals and provided six assists.

GFFN