AC Milan sports advisor, Zlatan Ibrahimovic launched the Lombard club’s season this Thursday by formalizing the arrival of Paulo Fonseca as new coach of the Rossoneri. After his departure from Lille, the Portuguese technician quickly bounced back in Serie A and hopes to keep Mike Maignan, Théo Hernandez and Rafael Leao there.
As expected Paulo Fonseca is back in Serie A. Three years after leaving AS Roma, the Portuguese technician, who managed Lille for two seasons, was named this Thursday at the helm of AC Milan.
“The new Milan coach will be Paulo Fonseca,” announced Zlatan Ibrahimovic, representative of the owner of the 2024 Italian runner-up club, during a press conference. “We studied very carefully what he did, how he prepared his matches, we want him to bring his playing identity, his attacking style to our team, to our players, after five years we wanted something new with all the respect we have for Stefano Pioli.”
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Fonseca in search of title after five years of drought
Having left Losc on good terms after two successful seasons in Ligue 1, Paulo Fonseca succeeds Stefano Pioli, dismissed at the end of the 2023-2024 Italian championship after five seasons. The Portuguese has signed a three-year contract with Milan until June 2027. The Lombard club, which also recorded the departure of its top scorer, Frenchman Olivier Giroud, who left for Los Angeles FC, is coming out of a campaign without a trophy.
Fonseca will have to convince the Milanese fans who were hoping for a coach of greater standing: if he won three Ukrainian championship titles with Shakhtar Donetsk between 2016 and 2019, he has been chasing a trophy ever since, whether with AS Roma (5th, then 7th in Serie A) and Lille (5th, then 4th in Ligue 1). The Portuguese left the club in the north of France on June 5, where he was at the end of his contract after qualifying it for the play-offs of the next Champions League (4th).
Ibrahimovic blocks Maignan and Hernandez
After announcing the arrival of Paulo Fonseca in Milan, Zlatan Ibrahmovic also answered questions from journalists on the future of several major players in the team. Regularly announced departures during the summer transfer window, Mike Maignan or even Théo Hernandez and Rafael Leao will not move according to the former Swedish striker. ‘Ibra’ was quite clear on the subject.
“Maignan, Théo Hernandez and Rafael Leao will all stay at the club because they all have their own position and they are all among the best players in their position,” explained the manager on the sidelines of the launch of the 2024-2025 season. Milan. “They have contracts with us, they are happy so they will stay with us. We don’t need to sell players to start a domino effect and recruit players.” Paulo Fonseca can rest assured, his squad should not be stripped this summer.
