Every day there seems to be a new favourite in the race to become AC Milan’s next head coach, and today the wheel seems to have landed on Paulo Fonseca.
According to La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below), Fonseca is now the frontrunner to take over from Stefano Pioli at the end of the season and lead Milan into a new era, but the answers will only come next week.
That is because Fonseca has a busy weekend: a Champions League spot will be played for on Sunday evening with Lille who are now in third place. They need a win against Nice or, more simply, the same result as Brest, who have the same points as them. At that point, he and Milan will take a step, in one direction or the other.
The choice
The saga of Pioli’s heir is a TV series that has been running for weeks. Julen Lopetegui was evaluated for months and chosen: he met Gerry Cardinale, he got the green light from the club and was already planning next season.
The reversal, born after heavy criticism from the fans, caused the process to restart and Lopetegui is now heading for West Ham. It is a complex casting, also because the decisions at Milan are collegial.
Two people don’t decide, as in the Paolo Maldini era, but a collective ok from Giorgio Furlani, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Geoffrey Moncada is needed, with final approval from the owners.
It is not easy to combine different needs and ideas, even if the underlying ideas of the club are those that have been known for some time.
They are looking for a coach capable of working as a team, capable of improving young players and accepting a project in which sustainability is the central concept.
The Portuguese pair
The club has thus evaluated and is evaluating many possibilities. Fonseca would be a choice with points of contact with Pioli: a coach with an offensive spirit capable of always working in harmony with the club.
Of course, in his career he has only won the league title in Ukraine, three times with Shakhtar Donetsk. Sergio Conceiçao, the other Portuguese candidate, has a very different profile.
He has won the Portuguese title three times and he has won 10 trophies in his seven years at the club. On the other hand, he has a complex character, which sometimes leads him to public quarrels.
Fonseca is the favourite today but in this story there are two decisions pending. Milan must decide whether they 100% want him and cannot back out this time, while the coach must decide whether to leave Lille and whether to join the Rossoneri or Marseille.
He has postponed the decision until next week, and this could see Marseille move on to other coaches, like Conceiçao. There is a fourth European club that has made him a very interesting proposal, as yet unnamed. Fonseca will also have a final word.
If we go for Fonseca and Marseille go for Conceicao, it’s disgraceful nothing else.
Today in the news: Juventus wins a trophy, Jorge Mendes has one step inside Casa Milan. Everyday under this management is like getting slapped in the face.
eafter 28 years of cheering for milan im done , i cant support a team that only ambition is top 4 , im not italian to support milan no matter what , hope cardinale lose his investments and be forced to sell milan , hopefully to an owner who cares about winning trophies until then so long !
I don’t think it matters..
Goodness
Please come back mate. We are Moneball Team, we aim for profit. Losing fans, mean losing money.
we lack ambition as a club, shame on you
I said it many times – if it happens to be true and we do hire Fonesca or Gallardo or some other failed manager it will prove that Milan is done for the next 4 years of slavery. From what Cardinale said yesterday I understood that – I don’t think this Milan is gonna try for anything big – it’s just big talk about winning but no real plan to back up these words. Most of the talk about sustainability and let’s be honest no team has won anything by just focusing on sustainability. Ye it’s very nice to not have debts – for the Arabs or whoever comes with money (to invest and actually win) to buy the club. That being said if I was at our stars shoes I would just be happy to be sold on move to some team who actually wants to win. And apart from that Scudetto – Atalanta, Inter, Juventus have been involved more in finals ( real chance to win some
Cup) than Milan has been or will be in the next years.
You forgot Roma
Please send me the petition to sign if Nonseca joins…
I have this eerie unsettling feeling that the mandate to the coach is give us top 4 to play UCL and don’t embarrass us too much (like don’t make us look stupid against Inter or some relegation haunted team, maybe on occassion get us to a semi final of something). Don’t give the fans too much to shout about and That way you keep your job.
I do hope fans repeat protests they had against Lopetegui on socials.
#nonseca
The economic benefits between finishing 1st and 4th is not that big, as you qualify for CL which is where the money are. Sure you earn a bit on merchandise and sponsorships, but it is peanuts compared to CL.
The economic effort NEEDED to win Seria A is much much greater, so the businesscase is clear;
Finishing 4th is enough for the business, so that is the aim. Get used to it.
In that case, Pioli deserves an extension and a pay rise for being an overachiever, greatly surpassing minimum target. Right?
Or just keep him on for another season because already contracted and none of the names available feel like an obvious upgrade
So when are the ultras going to start saying no to fonseca like they did lopetegui? Fonseca is probably the least exciting coach we’ve been linked with and Ofcourse he’s leading to take over
Don Vito de Palma affirms that Jürgen Klopp said to take Milan in 2025-2026 season. He wants to respect Liverpool and not coach a rival right after leaving Anfield.
All the names including Lopetegui’s were a smoke screen, it’s rumored that Milan is trying to convince Klopp to take the team this summer.
Best news so far……. believing in a lie is better than anything we have seen so far
That’s how rumors get started.