Paris Saint-Germain coach Christophe Galtier “firmly denies” making discriminatory remarks towards players when he was in charge of Nice last season, his lawyer told AFP on Wednesday.

Olivier Martin said Galtier, who joined PSG last year, “was amazed to hear of the insulting and defamatory remarks” which appeared in an internal mail sent by a former Nice official and were reported earlier this week by French media.

The reports revealed that ex-Nice sporting director Julien Fournier had written an email at the end of last season in which he claimed Galtier had made discriminatory remarks towards a section of the Nice squad.

The message, which AFP has not been able to verify, was reportedly sent by Fournier to Dave Brailsford, the former head of British Cycling and Team Sky now the Director of Sport at Ineos, the owners of Nice.

“Given the seriousness of the accusations against him, and which he firmly denies, Christophe Galtier has asked his lawyer to begin without delay the judicial proceedings which are all the more necessary given that, since this came out, he has been the target of intolerable threats and harassment,” the lawyer’s statement said.

PSG did not immediately respond when asked for comment.

Galtier has been under pressure at the Qatar-owned club after a slump in form following their elimination from the Champions League by Bayern Munich in the last 16 last month.

However, a 2-0 win away in Nice last weekend left PSG six points clear of Lens at the top of Ligue 1 — the top two face each other this weekend.