Portuguese coach Vitor Pereira is now the odds on favourite to become the next Everton manager.
The 53-year-old is a bit of an unknown commodity as far as the Premier League is concerned. His appointment would come as a surprise to most.
Having played amateur football in his 20s, Pereira made his name in coaching circles with Porto's junior teams in the early 2000s.
He served stints as manager of AD Sanjoanense and SC Espinho in the Portuguese third division before returning to the youth setup at Porto.
His first big managerial role came in the Liga Portugal 2 with Santa Clara. Pereira came close to promotion with them between 2008 and 2010 but fell short.
Pereira At Porto
A return to Porto was on the cards but this time as an assistant manager to André Villas-Boas with the senior team. The two achieved much success in their time in charge.
Porto would go on to win the Portuguese Supercup and finish the season in the Primeira Liga undefeated, winning the title 21 points ahead of rivals Benfica.
The pairing had an impressive run in Europe too. They beat Braga in the 2011 Europa League final which was hosted in the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.
ON THIS DAY - 2011: Aviva Stadium hosted the Europa League final between Porto and Braga pic.twitter.com/YjN6ltAzQ0
— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) May 18, 2016
With Villas-Boas catching interest from abroad, Chelsea came calling and Porto deemed Pereira good enough to take over the reigns as first-team manager.
Pereira won the Portuguese Supercup the following season and retained the Primeira Liga but failed to repeat any success in Europe. Porto were knocked out at the Champions League group stages.
Despite winning the domestic title again in 2013, Pereira came under fire for another disappointing run in Europe, this time losing to Málaga in the Champions League Round of 16.
Interestingly, Pereira had a rather public spat with James Rodríguez before their European exit. He decided to bench the Colombian for their two legs and faced some scrutiny.
Despite two Primeira Liga titles to his name - Pereira seemed to fall out of love with Porto and the Portuguese league, calling it a 'dirty competition' in 2013.
Life After Portugal
With his days in Portugal behind him, it's far to say Vitor Pereira spent the following years as a manager in several. interesting locations.
Before he left Porto, however, there were rumours he interviewed for the coaching job at Everton in the absence of David Moyes. Roberto Martinez would be the chosen successor.
Pereira continued his managerial journey in Saudi Arabia in 2013 with Al Ahli Saudi FC and spent just over a season with them in total.
He then brought his trade to Greece and took over at Olympiacos midway through the 2014/2015 season. They won the double that year but Pereira moved on afterwards.
Ex-@FCPorto boss Vítor Pereira is the new @olympiacos_org coach. He won 2 league titles during his time in Portugal.. pic.twitter.com/WoFt0xAw5O
— UEFA Europa League (@EuropaLeague) January 8, 2015
Turkey was the next destination and Pereira spent one season at Fenerbahçe despite signing on for two seasons. He brought the likes of Robin Van Persie and Nani to the club.
Fenerbahçe would go on to finish second in the Turkish league that year and exit the Europa League in the Round of 16. The club decided to cut ties after one season.
Pereira then spent time in the 2 Bundesliga in Germany and the Chinese Super League club where he arguably had his most success since leaving Porto.
He guided Shanghai Port to their first-ever league title and Chinese Super Cup in his first season in charge. He would go on to spend three years in China.
A return to Fenerbahçe presented itself this summer and Pereira signed another two-year contract in July that was never fulfilled.
The club sacked him in December gone by as they sat fifth in the Süper Lig. They finished sixth and seventh in the two previous seasons.
Vitor #Pereira:
Managerial honours:
2x Primera Liga titles and 1 Portuguese Super Cup with Porto 🏆🏆🏆
1 Greek Super League title and Greek Football Cup with Olympiacos 🏆🏆
1 Chinese Super League title and FA Super Cup with Shanghai SIPG 🏆🏆— Bradielka 💙 (@EvertonEFC18788) January 23, 2022
It was reported on Sunday night in Portugal that Periera was due to arrive at Goodison Park this week to begin contract negotiations.
Everton had approached him in 2019 when he was managing in China after they sacked Marco Silva. It's clear the board have wanted him at the club for a while.
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