France U21 manager Gérald Baticle to extend contract

In charge since the end of the 2024 Paris Olympics, Gérald Baticle will extend his stay with France’s U-21 national team.

On Friday, L’Équipe reported that the former AJ Auxerre striker will be in charge of the French youth squad until 2027. Since replacing Thierry Henry as manager, Baticle has six wins, four draws and one defeat as head coach.

At the moment, Baticle is involved in the U-21 Euros in Slovakia as the French are in a group alongside Portugal, Georgia and Poland. They drew 0-0 in their opening fixture against the Portuguese and then beat Georgia on Saturday (3-2). They will conclude the group phase against Poland on June 17.

His new contract means that he’ll be around for the following Euros in Albania and Serbia in June 2027.

Before being named an assistant to the French U-21 squad that won a silver medal at the previous Olympics, Baticle served as manager of Angers SCO from May 2021 to December 2022 in Ligue 1 before being sacked.

He had also spent three seasons with the Auxerre U-18 squad, guiding them to the final of the Coupe Gambardella in 2007. As a player for AJA under the legendary Guy Roux, Baticle won the Coupe de France in 1994 and the Coupe de la Ligue the following year.

Baticle was the leading goalscorer at the 1992-93 Europa League, known back then as the UEFA Cup, scoring eight times as they made it to the semi-finals.

GFFN | Joel Lefevre