PSG blast new coach reports

Paris St Germain's chief has blasted reports that a new coach has been lined up for next season saying that they were part of a ploy to destabilize the club.

Xavier Couture, the managing director of main shareholder Canal +, told the Parisien newspaper that the report in Le Journal du Dimanche that Bosnian Vahid Halihodzic would quit Rennes and take over from Luis Fernandez were false.

"I have had no contact with Halihodzic," Couture insisted.

"It's pure fantasy, a bad joke. PSG already has a coach and I am perfectly happy with him. He is called Luis Fernandez."

Fernandez, in his second spell in charge in Paris, has been in trouble with supporters and club management over the last few weeks as the side slumped down the table.

But just over a week ago, Fernandez, a member of the French midfield musketeers formed by Michel Platini, Alain Giresse and Jean Tigana which inspired France to the 1984 European championship title and 1986 World Cup semi-finals, was told his job was safe until the end of the season when his contract expires.

The Journal du Dimanche said that Paris St Germain also wanted to bring back in a managerial role 1994 World Cup winning Brazilian midfielder Rai, a player who was popular with the supporters in the 1990s.

Couture said that PSG had everything the club needed to figure among the elite of French football but needed stability to make it work.

"The newspaper report is aimed at destabilizing the club," he added.

Officials at Rennes have said they have no information about Halihodzic wanting to leave when his contract runs out at the end of the season.

Halihodzic was expected to comment later on Monday.