Paulo Fonseca to lead Lille’s revival

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

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The change in the bench comes after Lille finished Ligue 1 in a disappointing tenth place just a year after being proclaimed champion by Christophe Galtier. He then went to Nice despite the success and in his place Gourvennec was appointed, who has only been in charge for one season and his biggest loss was reaching the knockout stages of the Champions League being eliminated by Chelsea.

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

Expected for two weeks, when his name began to circulate in the Portuguese press, the arrival of Fonseca should revive a club after a disappointing season.

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

It is in this context that Fonseca takes on one of the greatest challenges of his career. “Becoming the new coach of Ille is a pride and a great honor for me. I am aware that having been chosen to be part of this great French club, with its rich history and impressive track record, also gives me a great responsibility”, affirms the Portuguese coach.

“His experience at a high European level, his philosophy of play and his sense of management make us approach this new collaboration with great enthusiasm and ambition”, underlined Olivier Létang, president of Lille.

Trapped in kyiv by the start of the Russian invasion

Without a team since leaving Roma at the end of the 2020-21 season, Fonseca has experienced very hard times following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Resident in kyiv with his wife, Katerina Ostroushko, whom he met when he was managing Shakhtar Donetsk between May 2016 and June 2019, he experienced first-hand the start of the military intervention on February 24.

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