Everton missed out on appointing Shakhtar Donetsk manager Paulo Fonseca after being left unable to afford him, according to reliable journalist Alan Nixon.
The Sun reporter claims on his personal Twitter account that the Toffees had tried to move for the Portuguese boss, who won the domestic double in Ukraine last season and is currently guiding his side through the Champions League group stages with two 2-2 draws in their opening brace of games, but that they were unable to meet the financial demands asked for his capture.
His revelation came when answering an Aston Villa fan about the speculation linking the 45-year-old to replacing Steve Bruce following his sacking, seemingly sinking the Villans’ hopes of his capture.
Opinion
While Nixon might say that Everton were unable to afford Fonseca, the truth of the matter is that the Toffees’ board were simply unwilling to pay the asking price for his signature. It is understandable why the Goodison Park outfit were somewhat uncertain about splashing the cash for his appointment, as he is unproven in England and with an average record on the European stage. His successes in Ukraine count for very little as there is by no means the quality of competition that he would have found in England, and with Marco Silva available for nothing, having been left out of work following his departure from Watford, it made sense that they would appoint him instead of his Portuguese compatriot. Still, it would have been interesting to see if Fonseca, who despite a lack of experience at any top clubs in Europe is still highly regarded as an exciting manager, could have done a job in England or whether it would have been too large a leap for a man of his experience.