Insider ExWHUEmployee has revealed that Paulo Fonseca is potentially a candidate to replace David Moyes at West Ham United should the 59-year-old leave this summer.
What are the latest West Ham manager rumours?
It's been a rather odd season for the Hammers as they've battled without particularly impressing in the Premier League and are still just about in danger of being relegated.
At the same time, the same set of players could be on the verge of glory as they've made it all the way to a European semi-final and play AZ Alkmaar this week as they look to go all the way in the Europa Conference League.
With that being the case, there is a lingering uncertainty around the position of Moyes and it seems as though the club are certainly making some moves behind the scenes already should they decide to part ways with the current manager at the end of the season.
Indeed, while talking recently on The West Ham Way podcast, Ex revealed that current Lille boss Fonseca is one man who appears to be on the Iron's radar.
He explained (8:34): "There has been talks that we really like Paulo Fonseca, who is the manager, Portuguese manager, of Lille.
"He used to manage Roma before that he's someone that apparently we have shown an interest in potentially being a candidate should Moyes go."
Would Fonseca be a good fit at West Ham?
The 50-year-old manager has had a reasonably good campaign in Ligue 1, and currently has Lille fifth in the division. This is his first season managing the French club and with 17 wins, eight draws and eight losses so far, he has earned an average of 1.79 points per game.
When you compare that with what Moyes has done across 49 outings in total so far, the Scottish manager has won 22 games, drawn eight but worrying lost a notable 19 fixtures – for a points average of 1.51 per game.
With that being the case, it's easy to see why Fonseca could be viewed as a potential upgrade. Interestingly enough, while he hasn't worked in the Premier League before, the former Roma manager was very close to joining Tottenham Hotspur in the summer of 2021.
Seeing as things didn't go well for Nuno Espirito Santo or Antonio Conte, perhaps Spurs may wish they'd opted for Fonseca instead.
Their error in judgement could be of benefit to West Ham though and it will be interesting to see if they do want to change managers this summer and if they view the 50-year-old as an ideal replacement for Moyes.