MILAN – “Fonseca is the new Milan coach”. This was announced in his first press conference as Rossoneri manager Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who thus made the Portuguese’s arrival official former Roma and Lille, called to take up Stefano Pioli’s legacy.
Milan, Ibrahimovic explains Fonseca’s choice and talks about Conte
“First of all I want to thank Pioli on behalf of the whole club” Ibra said before explaining the reasons that led Milan to focus on the 51-year-old Paulo Fonseca: “We chose him for his identity but also for how we want the team to play, in an offensive and dominant way. After five years we wanted to bring something new to the pitch and also to San Siro. With these players, Fonseca is the right man We are very confident and we believe in it a lot.” So instead up Lopetegui and Conte (made official by Napoli in recent days), who had been linked to the Milan bench: “We simply preferred Fonseca to Lopetegui. 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 didn’t discuss with Conte because, with great respect for him who is a great coach, it wasn’t what we were looking for”.
Fonseca new Milan coach: the official note from the club
It then arrived by return post the official note with which Milan communicated Of “having entrusted the technical management of the men’s first team to Paulo Fonseca. Born in Nampula (Mozambique) on 5 March 1973, Paulo Fonseca began his career as a coach in 2005, starting from the youth team of Estrela Amadora and then continuing among the professionals , in the Portuguese minor leagues. In 2012 he made his debut in the top league with Paços de Ferreira, a club with which he reached the Champions League play-offs, and went on to win the Portuguese Super Cup in 2013. his first trophy as a coach. After a spell at Braga, with which he won the Portuguese Cup, he coached Shakhtar Donetsk for three seasons, with which he won seven trophies and collected 103 victories in 139 matches. In 2019 he made his debut in the Italian championship with AS Roma, the team with which he reached the Europa League semi-final in 2021. Coach of LOSC Lille since the summer of 2022, Fonseca ends his adventure in France after two seasons in which he contributed to taking the club to as many European qualifiers. The Portuguese coach now joins Milan on a three-year contract. The Club extends a warm welcome to Paulo and his collaborators”.
