Paulo Fonseca to lead the resurrection of Lille

Lille today announced the signing of Portuguese Paulo Fonseca following the dismissal of Jocelyn Gourvennec. The former coach of Porto, Shakhtar Donetsk and Roma has signed a two -year contract.

The bench replacement came after Lille finished Ligue 1 in a disappointing tenth place just a year after becoming champions under Christophe Galtier. He then went to Nice despite the victory and in his place was appointed Gourvennec, who had only been in charge for one season and his biggest defeat was reaching the knockout stages of the Champions League which Chelsea had eliminated.

Led by Lille, Fonseca will be joined by Tiago Leal (assistant), Paulo Mourão (physical trainer) and Antonio Ferreira (goalkeeping coach). Already at the club, Jorge Maciel is another of his assistants.

It is expected that within two weeks, when his name begins to spread in the Portuguese press, the arrival of Fonseca should revive a club after a frustrating season.

Lille are going through a period of rebuilding, with many players leaving, including Dutch defender Sven Botman for Newcastle and midfielder Renato Sanches ’expected departure for PSG.

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It was in this context that Fonseca accepted one of the biggest challenges of his career. “Being the new coach of Ille is a pride and a great honor for me. I know that being chosen to be part of this great French club, with its rich history and impressive track record, also gives me a big responsibility ”, affirmation of the Portuguese coach.

“His experience at a high level of Europe, his gaming philosophy and his sense of management bring us closer to this new partnership with great enthusiasm and ambition”, underlined Olivier Létang, president of Lille.

Imprisoned in kyiv at the start of the Russian invasion

Without a team since leaving Rome at the end of the 2020-21 season, Fonseca has experienced a very difficult period after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Living in kyiv with his wife, Katerina Ostroushko, whom he met when he managed Shakhtar Donetsk between May 2016 and June 2019, he personally experienced the start of military intervention on February 24th.

“It’s the worst day of my life,” he confessed after the explosions woke him up early in the morning and he was trapped in a hotel in kyiv when he couldn’t catch the flight he had booked for the next day. He finally left the Ukrainian capital thanks to a mission led by the Portuguese embassy.