The Ligue 1 team announced on Friday that it had hired Paulo Fonseca, a former manager of AC Milan, as its new head coach for a two-and-a-half-year term.
Lyon fired Pierre Sage earlier this week, but advanced to the Europa League’s round of sixteen after a 1-1 home draw with Ludogorets in their final group-stage match on Thursday.
The team is currently sixth in the French top division after winning just one of their last five league games and losing to Bourgoin-Jallieu, a French fifth-tier team, in the French Cup.
“Olympique Lyonnais is very pleased to announce the appointment of Paulo Fonseca as head coach of the professional team until June 30, 2027,” Lyon said in a statement.
“This choice, taken unanimously by John Textor and the entire sports management, is part of the desire to give Olympique Lyonnais a strong ambition, both on the national and European scene.”
Fonseca most recently served as manager of AC Milan, where he was fired in late December after just six months.
He was Lille’s previous manager in Ligue 1, where he led the team to fourth place the previous season.
A defender in his playing days, the Portuguese manager began his coaching career in 2005 with Estrela Amadora’s youth squad before taking over Porto in 2013.
He then had periods with Braga, Shakhtar Donetsk of Ukraine, and AS Roma from 2019 to 2021.
He won the Ukrainian Premier League three times in a row with Shakhtar, the Portuguese Super Cup with Porto in 2013, and the Cup of Portugal with Braga in 2015–16.
Lyon’s journey to Olympique de Marseille on Sunday will be his first game as manager.
