Leeds United make contact with Roma coach Paulo Fonseca

Leeds United are among several clubs that have been in contact with Roma’s head coach, Paulo Fonseca.

Italian journalist, Gianluigi Longari with SportItalia TV, TV dello Sport and Tutto Mercato Web has reported that The Whites have made contact with the Portoguese coach who is set to leave Roma at the end of the season.

Napoli, Crystal Palace, OGC Nice and Leeds have been named as the clubs who have made their interest known but it was also acknowledged that Leeds are still in dealings with Marcelo Bielsa.

You’d expect Bielsa to be the far and away number one option, and the Leeds United hierarchy have made that clear in recent interviews. Some see this revelation as a worrying sign as it may seem that the Leeds board have been given reason to contact other coaches. On the other hand, Bielsa can be unpredictable and the Leeds board need to keep on top of their contingency plan just in case.

48-year-old Paulo Fonesca has been coaching for 14 years, starting out in Portugal and moving through the ranks to eventually coach Porto and Braga for one season each. He then went to Shakhtar Donetsk from the summer of 2016 to the summer of 2019, winning three league titles before taking charge of Roma for the past two seasons, averaging 1.78 points per game up to this point.

Fonesca favours using the 3-4-3/4-2-3-1 formation and is known for playing fluid football with heavy use of wingers in creating overloads in central areas. He currently has Roma sitting 5th in Serie A after 38 matches, eight points away from Champions League qualification while also reaching The Europa League semi-finals.

Who is on your contingency list? Would Fonesca do a good job at Leeds if he were to take over? Let us know on Twitter @ThruItAllLUFC.