Lyon coach Paulo Fonseca leaves club to join Sporting Lisbon

File photo: Paulo Fonseca joined Lyon in January 2025 as a replacement for Pierre Sage and had been under contract until the end of this season. | Photo Credit: AP

French club Olympique Lyonnais confirmed on Wednesday the departure of Portuguese coach Paulo Fonseca to Sporting Lisbon with a compensation fee of five million euros ($5.6 mn) paid to the Ligue 1 side.

Fonseca, 53, joined Lyon in January 2025 as a replacement for Pierre Sage and had been under contract until the end of this season.

“Paulo came to see me last week to say that he had received an offer from Sporting and had accepted it, explaining that it was a choice of the heart as it is his boyhood club,” Lyon sporting director Matthieu Louis-Jean told AFP.

“I wasn’t expecting this at all. I tried to understand his reasons, but it quickly became clear that, for him, it was an offer he couldn’t refuse, and for us, it would be difficult, because you can’t keep someone against their will,” he added.

The former Porto, Shakhtar Donetsk, Lille and AC Milan coach guided Lyon to a fourth-place finish last term, but it missed out on this season’s Champions League league phase after losing in the playoffs.

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Fonseca’s spell at Lyon came during a turbulent financial period. In June 2025, French football’s financial watchdog provisionally relegated the club to Ligue 2 before the decision was overturned on appeal, subject to a strict programme of cost-cutting measures and player sales.

The club also stuck by Fonseca after he was given a nine-month domestic ban last year for an angry altercation with a referee.

While thanking Fonseca for his commitment, Lyon expressed “deep regret” regarding what it described as an “unexpected decision” mid-season with the club third in Ligue 1.

Lyon is expected to appoint a permanent successor during the upcoming international break, with former Braga coach Carlos Vicens reportedly among the leading candidates.

Assistant Jorge Maciel will take charge of Lyon on an interim basis for the club’s next two matches, Thursday’s Europa League fixture against Real Sociedad and Sunday’s Ligue 1 trip to Brest.