Thierry Braillard, a candidate under reserve

Jean-Michel Aulas isn't the only one hoping for an adventure at the intersection of politics and sport. Thierry Braillard, former Secretary of State for Sport after serving as Gérard Collomb's deputy for sport during OL's heyday, is increasingly considering a return to politics. While he hasn't taken a public position, he has laid out a fairly detailed plan. He wants to be the candidate of the Socialist Party and the Radical Party of the Left, the movement to which he is historically affiliated, on an autonomous line without an alliance with the environmentalists, and even less so with the Insoumis (Rebellious Insurgents) before the second round.

His eventual candidacy will therefore be decided at the Socialist Party congress. “If the Faure line wins, he won't go. If François Hollande's supporters win and a real distance is taken from the Insoumis, he will have a space,” notes one of his close associates. At the head of a center-left list, he dreams of transforming the first round into a left-wing primary and beating Grégory Doucet and the Insoumis.