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.
