Herve Renard says the prospect of coaching French Ligue 1 club Sochaux is very appealing.

And Sochaux are expected to name their new coach early next week.

The Frenchman and Zambia coach confirmed to Foot Mercato that he has been officially been approached by the struggling Ligue 1 club over the vacant position as head trainer.

Renard has been shortlisted for the job alongside eight other coaches.

“It would be for me a fantastic opportunity to be able to come back to France,” Renard said.

“When you are in this situation, you cannot say too much but yes I have been approached.

“It is now up to them to make a choice and decide what they want most. But as far as I am concerned, I am very interested.”

The job became available last week after  Eric Hely quit last Thursday after a poor run of results that left Sochaux winless and bottom of the table with two points from his opening seven games of the season.

“There are about 30 matches left, it is a fantastic challenge and I am sure we can do something to save the club  I am sure I can succeed there and it would be nice to be given the opportunity to prove it,” Renard said.

“Such challenges are my passion, I have always dreamt about it and I am not afraid to admit it.”

Meanwhile, Renard’s contract with Zambia runs out in June, 2014.

The Frenchman who won the 2012 Africa Cup title with Zambia failed to lead them to a successful title defence of the crown in South Africa in January.

Zambia recently also failed to advance to the final stage of the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying playoffs after Ghana beat them to that spot with a 2-1 win on September 6.