Widely-travelled French coach Herve Renard was on Thursday primed to take charge of the Côte d'Ivoire in a bid to rescue their faltering Africa Cup of Nations campaign.
The availability of the 55-year-old, who is currently in charge of France's national women's team, was being discussed by the two countries' respective football federations, AFP learned from a source close to the talks.
Renard enjoys great popularity in Côte d'Ivoire after leading the team to the 2015 African title.
He also won the competition with Zambia in 2012 and has managed Morocco and Angola.
Senegal test
Hosts Côte d'Ivoire squeezed into the last 16 of the ongoing Cup of Nations as a best third-placed team after a group stage saw them defeat Guinea-Bissau 2-0 before losing 1-0 to Nigeria and 4-0 to Equatorial Guinea.
Jean-Louis Gasset was sacked as coach on Wednesday due to the team's unconvincing form.
Côte d'Ivoire face defending champions Senegal for a place in the quarter-finals on Monday.
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