Paulo Fonseca pens new Shakhtar Donetsk deal

Shakhtar Donetsk coach Paulo Fonseca, who had been linked with the West Ham manager’s job, has signed a new two-year contract with the Ukrainian champions.

The Portuguese had reportedly held talks with the Hammers as they look for a successor to David Moyes.

But Shakhtar announced on Thursday night that the 45-year-old had committed his future to them.

West Ham announced on Wednesday that Moyes would be leaving and said they planned to have a new manager in place within 10 days.

Moyes guided the Hammers out of the relegation zone and to a 13th-placed finish in the Premier League after taking over in November, but joint-chairman David Sullivan decided the club needed to move in a “different direction” with a “high-calibre figure”.

That figure, though, will not be Fonseca.

The former Braga boss, who has won back-to-back league and cup doubles since joining Shakhtar in 2016, said on the club’s website: “I’m very happy. I had a desire to continue my career at Shakhtar.

“Now we need to work hard to continue winning both domestically and internationally.”

Shakhtar president Rinat Akhmetov added: “Do you remember how two years ago, we appointed Paulo at Shakhtar and everyone shouted, ‘What’s going to happen to Shakhtar now? Now everything will go wrong with Shakhtar, there will be problems. We don’t know what to expect’.

“And what do we see? Two league titles, two cups, one Super Cup and a brilliant Champions League campaign.

“This shows that Shakhtar made the right decision two years ago by appointing Paulo and his assistants.

“Now we’ve signed a new contract and I’m confident that new successes await us in the future. Paulo is a professional. He’s an ambitious man, an industrious man and he’s got great ideas. He knows what to do.”