Paulo Fonseca has signed a new contract at Shakhtar Donetsk days after interviewing for the vacant West Ham job.
Fonseca met with Hammers co-owner David Sullivan on Monday and had also been linked with Everton having guided Shakhtar to back-to-back Ukrainian league and cup doubles.
The former Braga boss had slipped behind Newcastle’s Rafa Benitez as the Hammers’ preferred candidate and has opted to remain with Shakhtar, with whom he has signed a new two year contract.
“I'm very happy,” Fonseca said. “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: “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.”
The announcement of Fonseca’s new deal came as Sullivan said West Ham are “very close” to appointing a new manager who West Ham say “has a proven record both in the Premier League and European football”.
Fonseca had held a 75-minute meeting with Sullivan and his agent Jorge Mendes before West Ham confirmed they were moving on from David Moyes, who took the club from the relegation zone to a 13th place finish on a short-term deal.
Benitez is the Hammers’ top target and would be willing to leave St James’ Park for the right deal at the London Stadium.
