Lyon regrets timing of coach Paulo Fonseca’s departure for Sporting Lisbon

Lyon coach Paulo Fonseca is leaving to join Sporting Lisbon, the Ligue 1 club said on Wednesday.

The seven-time French champion said in a statement that it regretted Fonseca’s departure, “particularly given its timing midway through the season.”

Lyon said Fonseca, who joined in January 2025, had been approached after Sporting parted ways with coach Rui Borges this week.

Fonseca had announced there was a possibility he could leave the French club following Lyon’s 2-0 win against Angers on Sunday.

Lyon is flying high, third in the Ligue 1 standings after nine matches, just three points behind leader Paris Saint-Germain.

“In light of his clearly expressed wishes, the management considered that continuing a working relationship that could no longer guarantee the total commitment essential to the project’s success was not in the club’s best interests,” Lyon said.

“At such a crucial stage of the season, Olympique Lyonnais believes that everyone at the club must be fully committed and focused on its objectives.”

Lyon said that Jorge Maciel would take charge until the upcoming international break, pending the appointment of Fonseca’s successor. He will lead the squad against Real Sociedad in the Europa League on Thursday, followed by Sunday’s away match at Brest in Ligue 1.

Lyon said Sporting would pay five million euros ($5.6 million) in compensation for the early termination of Fonseca’s contract, which ran through the end of June 2027.

Sporting is third in the Portuguese league, already nine points behind leader Porto. In the Champions League, it has three wins from four games.

Fonseca won the Portuguese Supercup with Porto in 2013 and the Portuguese Cup with Braga in 2016. He also coached Shakhtar Donetsk, where he won three league-cup doubles (2017, 2018, 2019) and the Ukrainian Supercup in 2017.

The Portuguese coach then led AS Roma between 2019 and 2021 before joining Lille in June 2022, where he built one of the best attacking and efficient sides in France despite operating on a limited budget.

More recently, he was less successful at AC Milan, producing only 12 wins in 24 matches across all competitions.

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