It’s now official: after two convincing seasons on the Lille bench, Paulo Fonseca will make his comeback in Italy. Appearing for a time on OM’s shelves, the Portuguese technician was indeed inducted into the head of AC Milan, a week after announcing his departure from LOSC. News awaited for several days which was made official by Zlatan Ibrahimovic during an extraordinary press conference held at Milanello, the Rossoneri training center, this Thursday. Having become a manager, more precisely a senior advisor to the owner of the Lombard club, Gerry Cardinale, after putting an end to a rich football career, the former Swedish striker explained at length to justify the choice to hand over the reins of the transalpine stable to the Portuguese.
“We studied several profiles. We had a list of criteria and we decided to go with Paulo Fonseca in relation to his playing identity and also because he corresponded to the players we had at our disposal. We want AC Milan to deploy this football, an attacking football that seeks to dominate its opponent. I have immense respect for everything Stefano Pioli has done here, but we needed something new, something fresh for the players.first explained the Swede before setting out the outlines of the negotiations with the ex-manager of the Mastiffs: “We first studied the coach’s profile also from a playing point of view. When we spoke face to face with Fonseca. He convinced us because he is very ambitious and has a great desire to work. Milan have a coach, not a manager. We did not discuss with Conte because, with all due respect, it was not what we were looking for for the criteria we adopted.
Big challenges await Paulo Fonseca!
Made an absolute priority by AC Milan despite the reluctance of many fans, Paulo Fonseca has stood out from his main competitors through his ability to develop the potential of young talents as well as for his offensive playing philosophy. Successor to Stefano Pioli, recently dismissed by the management of Lombarde, Paulo Fonseca has therefore signed up for the next three seasons with AC Milan. Despite a wealth of experience after notable stints at Shakhtar Donetsk – a club with which he won three league titles and three Ukrainian Cups – and recently at Lille – a team that he took to the quarter-finals of the Europa Conference League – many challenges await the native of Nampula on the other side of the Alps. At the helm of the Rossoneri, Fonseca will have to quickly impose his paw so that the Milanese team consolidates its rank in the Italian championship while being able to shine on the continental scene after having failed this season (returned to the Europa League after finishing at the third place in their group in the Champions League then eliminated in the quarter-final by AS Roma).
“When we decided to leave Pioli, we immediately thought about the new season. Every day we talk to Paulo, we share thoughts and strategies. The desire is to improve the team, which is one of its strengths. We also have a project for under-23s, this will be very important for us. We want to link him to the first team. And Fonseca gives young people the chance to emerge. Little details we talked about. Next year, there are four trophies to win (Serie A, Italian Cup, Champions League, Italian Super Cup, editor’s note): a club like Milan must be competitive. Our responsibility is to put the coach in the best conditions”detailed Zlatan Ibrahimovic about the prerogatives of the Lusitanian who feels ready to take up the challenge as he indicated on his X account in reaction to its officialization: “An honor, a pride, a responsibility. Go Milan!”
