By now, you’re probably aware of the strange twist of fate that will see Jose Mourinho and Paulo Fonseca engage in the sort of job swap usually reserved for brain-melting ITV2 reality shows rather than elite-level sport.
As Mourinho makes himself comfortable in the Stadio Olimpico hot seat, the man he replaced as head coach of Roma looks set to take his old job in the Premier League.
Last night, Sky Sports reported Tottenham Hotspur were in advanced talks to make Fonseca their new manager, 52 days after Jose’s departure.
Fonseca, the former Porto and Shakhtar Donetsk boss whose personal tally of nine trophies will have Daniel Levy drooling, is apparently the number one choice of new sporting director Fabio Paratici.
Is Fonseca set to be new Tottenham manager?
And, if you wanted another intriguing sub-plot, try this one for size. Fonseca would have found himself on a very different path if Antonio Conte – the manager Tottenham looked destined to appoint just seven days ago – hadn’t turned down the Roma job in 2019.
Conte’s snub opened the door for 49-year-old Fonseca to get his big break in a major European league.
“I know it’s a huge club, but it wasn’t the time. Maybe in the future,” Conte said when explaining why he decided against taking over in the Italian capital, via FotMob.
And the former Chelsea boss only had positive things to say about the man who eventually put pen to paper with Roma, highlighting three successive league titles Fonseca secured during his time in charge of Shakhtar Donetsk.
“(Fonseca) is demonstrating his qualities after his time in Ukraine,” Conte said. “Here, you have to settle in. Your opponents study you and prepare very well to stop you. He brought an idea and also used it in Serie A.
“Roma deserve compliments. They have a competitive squad made up of experienced players and very good talent.”
Fonseca will have to win over the doubters
Fonseca will arrive in England with a point to prove and his fair share of doubters.
His Porto side struggled to keep pace with Benfica in Portugal while Fonseca’s Roma, who finished a distant seventh in the Serie A table last season, were constantly undermined by their dreadful defensive record and a staggering inability to perform in pressure situations.
Roma won just one game out of 12 against Italy’s top six in 2020/21 and were thumped 6-2 by Manchester United in the Europa League semi-finals.
Furthermore, considering Fonseca’s departure was made official on 4 May, why has it taken Spurs so long to firm up their interest?
A lack of other options perhaps? Conte is hardly the first manager to slip through Tottenham’s fingers in the past month-and-a-half after all.
For now, however, Fonseca deserves the benefit of the doubt. After all, there were plenty of Spurs supporters who questioned the wisdom of hiring a fresh-faced Mauricio Pochettino in 2014 too…
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