Italian giants AS Roma have confirmed that Paulo Fonseca will be their new manager. The 46 year old Fonseca, who once playfully dressed up as “Zorro” after guiding Shakhtar to a Champions League victory over Man City in 2017, has inked a two year deal with the Giallorossi, with the option of an extension till 2022.
Fonseca has a good past track record- he guided Shakhtar to three consecutive Ukrainian titles since taking over from Mircea Lucescu, despite the Donetsk outfit having to play their home games 250 miles away in Kharkiv owing to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
He was also Pacos de Ferreira manager in 2012/13, and guided them to a shock third place finish and a spot in the Champions League play-off round, where they lost to Zenit. He also had a solid stint with Braga, winning a domestic Cup and taking them to the last eight of the Europa League.
Fonseca’s immediate task would be to get Roma back into the Champions League- the Giallorossi finished 6th last season, parting company with both Eusebio di Francesco and Claudio Raneiri, and will have to be content with a Europa League spot in 2019/20.
Shakhtar haven’t officially named a replacement yet, but Luis Castro, another Portuguese gaffer, looks set to take over the reigns of the club.
It appears that Fonesca is the first Portuguese manager to coach Roma- he’s also the first Mozambique born gaffer to do so!
