The Frenchman does not seem to be set on bringing in some countrymen.
Nottingham Forest went French with their choice of new manager recently, with Philippe Montanier being named as the permanent successor to Dougie Freedman, who had been sacked in March.
The former Rennes and Real Sociedad manager’s appointment came with some risk, as he is the first foreigner to coach the club.
So with his arrival can Forest fans expect to see plenty of other Frenchman arriving at the City Ground in the weeks to come?
Seemingly not, judging by his recent comments to France Football.
He had this to say when asked if he would be bringing in French players this summer:
“For now, we have a small staff of fifteen or sixteen players. So we need seven or eight new players. They might be French, but it’s more quality than nationality that we will find.
“In England, it is not simple, there are more Spaniards, Portuguese, South Americans. The French do not export that well.
“Perhaps there is a language problem.”
There have been some big success stories among French players switching to English football recently – N’Golo Kante and Dimitri Payet being excellent examples.
France’s Dimitri Payet
However, Aston Villa fans will tell you it doesn’t always work out.
Montanier will likely not specifically target players from his homeland, but instead it would appear that he is simply looking for the players that will make the greatest impact on the first-team.
So far Forest have brought in Greek striker Apostolos Vellios and Finnish defender Thomas Lam in their bid for a more successful 2016-17 campaign.
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