Despite a mostly solid season up to this point, Paulo Fonseca has often come under fire in recent months due to snafu in the Coppa Italia game versus Spezia, his handling of the Edin Dzeko case and the poor results against top teams. But his future at the Roma at risk also because he has drawn significant outside interest, primarily coming Real Madrid and Benfica, both SportMediaset and Corriere dello Sport reported today.
The expiring contract of the Portuguese gaffer would get automatically renewed for another year if they qualified to Champions League. However, the Friedkin family that acquired the club in August have signaled that they would prefer moving on from him, especially should they be able to get their top option Massimiliano Allegri. The former Juventus boss is also on Real Madrid’s short-list if they decided to part ways with Zinedine Zidane.
The outlets say that Fonseca is appreciated by the Merengues for his style and composure but especially the quality of his tactics, which had already earned rave reviews when he was at Shakhtar Donetsk, where he won three domestic titles and made noise in Europe.
Furthermore, Benfica would do anything to bring him back to Portugal, as the reunion with Jorge Jesus has not gone as well as expected. They are pondering firing their current coach and hire a caretaker manager to finish the season before making a strong run at the Roma boss, who previously guided Pacos de Ferreira, Porto and Braga in his home country. The Giallorossi finished fifth in his first year at the helm, while they are currently in fourth place.