Vitor Pereira has succeeded Gary O’Neil as Wolves boss
Vitor Pereira will finally get to fulfil his dream of coaching in the Premier League.
The Portuguese waited for the opportunity to come for more than a decade. Has now been chosen by Wolves to succeed Gary O’Neil.
The fact he has not managed in England before is, by his own admission, partly due to “an addiction” to management that meant he did not want to stay out of a job for long.
That desire to work was behind some of the career moves he has made since his back-to-back Primeira Liga titles with Porto in 2012 and 2013.
“I was convinced I’d go to Everton [in 2013],” Pereira previously “I had attended a meeting with them and was expecting to move to the English league, which was my obsession.
“And suddenly, because I lack patience, I changed direction. The addiction was so strong – and it still is – but back then, the addiction was overwhelming, and I couldn’t go so long without being active.
“I didn’t end up going to Everton because my English was poor, very poor. Struggled with the language. I went to a meeting and didn’t understand half. Spaniard Roberto Martinez was chosen instead. While Pereira move to Saudi club Al-Ahli.
Lots has changed since, including Pereira’s English skills.
The 56-year-old has also gone from a professional rated so highly that Jose Mourinho once referred to him as “more than an assistant manager”. Many in Portugal believed he was more influential to Porto’s historic treble campaign in 2010-11 than boss Andre Villas-Boas – to become a sort of a journeyman.
Pereira has taken on several different jobs across the globe, working in Saudi Arabia (Al-Ahli and Al-Shabab), Greece (Olympiacos), Turkey (Fenerbahce), Germany (1860 Munich), China (Shanghai SIPG) and Brazil (Corinthians and Flamengo).
The Premier League knocking again more times. But he never deem the right fit.
“I did many job interviews with https://ufabet999.app English clubs. On one occasion, I was already preparing for my debut match…” Pereira told Mais Futebol.
Pereira will be now hoping to prove the wait was worth it by saving struggling Wolves from relegation.
“Vitor is a self-made man,” says his former right-hand man Rui Quinta.
“He came from humble beginnings [a fishing neighbourhood in his birth town of Espinho, where the ocean sometimes flowed into his house], from a difficult social background where some of his friends went down the wrong path in life.
“But he chose to study, coached at youth level, then at senior level, and is now at the top.”