Everton face fight to get Fonseca from Shakhtar

While Everton majority shareowner Farhad Moshiri has revealed that the Blues are close to signing their next permanent manager, it’s looking like the Toffees are going to have to be more persuasive with Shakhtar Donetsk to prise away Paulo Fonseca.

Portuguese daily A Bola are reporting that the Ukrainian side have turned down Everton’s offer to buy out the remainder of Fonseca’s contract, which was set to expire at the end of the season anyway.

The Blues were reported to have offered the manager a lucrative two and a half year contract, but Shakhtar president Rinat Akhmetov has insisted that they want Fonseca to stay as they fight to qualify for the knockout rounds of the Champions League. There were unconfirmed rumours of offers for the manager from the Chinese Super League as well.

Everton were earlier this month thwarted in a similar manner as they pursued another Portuguese manager Marco Silva of Watford FC. The Hornets rebuffed multiple attempts by the Toffees to take Silva away, with large sums like £15 million mentioned.