Lyon sack Sage and target Fonseca as replacement

"Olympique Lyonnais has been compelled to suspend coach Pierre Sage and staff members Jamal Alioui, Rui Lemos, Denis Valour and Remy Vercoutre, pending a decision in the next few days," the French club confirmed earlier on Monday.

The decision comes just 14 months after Sage was first appointed as head coach. The 45-year-old took over Lyon in November 2023 when they were sitting at the bottom of the French flight, turning their fortunes around to finish his first campaign in 6th place and bring them back into the European spots.

However, he has not been able to replicate the same form this term as Lyon count just one victory this month. Having failed to win the past five games, including a shocking exit to fifth-tier side Bourgoin-Jallieut in the Coupe de France, their last victory (a 1-0 win over Montpellier) was on January 4. 

Paulo Fonseca is now rumoured to take over from Sage, with reports from Fabrizio Romano informing of a verbal agreement between the Portuguese and the club. Fonseca was sacked by Milan just a month ago, as Conceicao replacing him at the 'Rossoneri', but is now ready to return to the French top-flight after two years at Lille.

The primary target for Fonseca will be to qualify for the Champions League, which would be a significant financial boost in their bid to avoid relegation to Ligue 2 at the end of the season - the DNCG provisionally demoted Lyon due to an excessive amount of debt. 'Les Gones' currently sit in 6th place and find themselves 4 points away from the top three spots.

 

January 28, 2025