The eternal captain of the Impact, a high-ranking manager in an MLS club? The Press can confirm that Patrice Bernier has been approached by upcoming expansion club San Diego FC for the technical director position. The Quebecer, on the other hand, has already put an end to the process.
It was informant Tom Bogert of The Athletic who first revealed that Bernier had been interviewed by the team on Wednesday.
Patrice Bernier confirmed to The Press having met with representatives of the San Diego club, at their request. One of them was a coach for Bernier at FC Nordsjaelland, in Denmark, where the Quebecer played from 2008 to 2011.
The former Impact number 8, however, had to refuse the job offer for family reasons, a move to California being impossible for his family.
San Diego, which will set foot on the MLS pitches from 2025, is owned by the Mansour group, which also owns the said Danish club as well as the Right To Dream international academy.
This is not the first time that Patrice Bernier has been approached by an MLS team to lead a sports project. In October 2020, the Washington Post cited Bernier in a list of several candidates considered for the head coaching position for DC United. Hernán Losada was finally hired a few months later.
The former midfielder was an assistant coach at the Impact Academy from 2018 to 2019, before joining the first team as an assistant from 2019 to 2021, working under Wilmer Cabrera, then Thierry Henry. He now holds the position of ambassador for CF Montréal, in addition to his media assignments, notably at RDS.