Paulo Fonseca has never worked in the Premier League, but is well known by English clubs’ fans because of the many rumours he’s been involved in.
Last year, right after Marcelo Bielsa was sacked by Leeds United, the Portuguese manager was named as one of the candidates to take charge of the club.
His arrival never happened, but speaking to the TransferRoom congress in his home country, the coach confirmed the talks with the Whites.
He’s quoted by Record.
“We didn’t talk much about the project itself. It was a quick meeting. He talked a lot about the club, the infrastructure, the culture of the club and the city. It was more about that,” said Fonseca.
Victor Orta, who was also at the event, confirmed the talks and gave more details.
“I looked for Paulo Fonseca to replace Marcelo Bielsa at Leeds. As well as natural ability and leadership, there’s also the emotional part. You have to believe that people have a positive emotional side. It was a productive conversation. Before, we were wondering how we were going to find someone who would work and this TransferRoom tool helps with that. It’s useful to realise how a coach can work in a project.”
Leeds United replaced Bielsa with Jesse Marsch, who ended up staying until February 2023. Then they had Michael Skubala, Javi Gracia and Sam Allardyce in charge, until finally agreeing the arrival of Daniel Farke for the Championship season.
Paulo Fonseca was unemployed at that time, and in the summer of 2022, he ended up taking charge of Lille on a two-year contract. Right now, they’re third in Ligue 1.
Now we shall see who’ll be the Premier League club to next be linked with him, and perhaps go through with it this time.
