Paulo Fonseca to take over as Lyon coach
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Olympique Lyonnais will appoint Paulo Fonseca as their next head coach according to media reports. The French Ligue 1 club sacked Pierre Sage after a winless run of five matches across all competitions.
Lyon are sixth in the French top-flight after managing just one win in their last five league games. They were also knocked out of the French Cup following a defeat by French fifth-tier club Bourgoin-Jallieu in the round of 32.
Fonseca was sacked by AC Milan in December after only six months on the job after an inconsistent run of form left the club eighth in Italy's top football league.
The Portuguese has a history in French football after spending two seasons at French Ligue 1 side Lille. He also coached Roma and previously won the Super Cup with Porto in 2013, the Portuguese Cup with Braga in 2015-16, as well as three consecutive Ukrainian Premier League titles with Shakhtar Donetsk between 2017 and 2019.
Lyon next host Bulgarian side Ludogorets in the Europa League.
Former AC Milan boss Paulo Fonseca will take over as coach of Ligue 1 side Lyon, the French club's owner said.
The Portuguese coach will take over from Pierre Sage, who was dismissed from the Lyon hotseat.
"Barring the unexpected, yes, Paulo is going to be our next coach," said Lyon owner John Textor.
"He has a little bit of work to tie things up with his former club. That's happening very quickly. We expect to see him there this week. We expect to announce him this week as our new coach," the American added.
Fonseca, 51, has been out of work since leaving AC Milan in December after only joining the Italian giants in the close season. Lyon currently sit sixth in Ligue 1, four points from the Champions League spots. Lyon next face Bulgarians Ludogorets in the Europa League, before they travel to Ligue 1 top-four rivals Marseille.
And Textor expects Fonseca will be on hand to watch those matches from the stands before taking over the reins.