Ivory Coast Fail in Attempts to ‘Loan’ Herve Renard for Remainder of 2023 Africa Cup of Nations

• Ivory Coast were keen to acquire Herve Renard's services on loan for the remainder of the tournament
• Renard previously won AFCON with Zambia and led Ivory Coast to the Africa Cup of Nations title in 2015
• The Elephants are without a manager after they decided to sack Jean-Louis Gasset during the group stage

It’s the January transfer window, which means that players can either be sold or sent on loan to another team.

While that is the norm for players, a coach going on loan has never been heard of, especially a national team coach.

AFCON host nation Ivory Coast looked to make history when they approached the French Women’s national team to try and loan their coach Hervé Renard for the rest of the continental tournament.

Were Ivory Coast successful?

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Unfortunately for the Elephants, their efforts to bring in the French manager failed after negotiations broke down, according to ESPN.

"The negotiations did not finish favourably, it's because it shouldn't have been," Renard said.

Why loan Hervé Renard?

The host nation were looking to bring in a top-level coach for the remainder of the tournament after they fired Jean-Louis Gasset.

As noted by BBC, Gasset was fired two days after they were beaten 4-0 by Equatorial Guinea. The loss left them third in their group, and they only snuck through to the Round of 16 thanks to being one of the four best third-placed teams.

Emerse Fae will now lead the side as an interim coach for their game against Senegal.

Why is Renard so well sought after?

A former coach of The Elephants, Renard is still very popular in the country.

He led Ivory Coast to the AFCON title in 2015, having previously achieved the same feat with Zambia in 2012.

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He also led Saudi Arabia when they became the only side to beat Argentina at the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Goal noted. He became manager of the France women's national team in 2023.

Algeria want to hire Herve Renard

Sports Brief also reported that Ivory Coast aren't the only side looking to acquire Herve Renard's services after sacking their coach.

Algeria, who fired their manager Djamel Belmadi after their poor showing at AFCON, are also looking to hire Renard to turn things around.

Belmadi led Algeria to the title in 2019, but the North African side have been eliminated in the group stages in the two tournaments since.