Vitor Pereira sat down for his first Wolves press conference on Friday afternoon ahead of the clash against Leicester City.
Wolves travel to Leicester City on Sunday in Vitor Pereira’s first game in charge.
Pereira was announced as the new manager of Wolves on Thursday, replacing Gary O’Neil at the helm, who was sacked with the club in 19th position.
The Portuguese tactician arrives from Saudi Pro League side Al Shabab however, the 56-year-old has managed 12 different clubs across his career while achieving a respectable 53% win percentage.
Now, as he attempts to take on the biggest challenge of them all – keeping Wolves in the Premier League – Pereira has now explained why he chose the Old Gold over every other club.
Vítor Pereira, head coach of Wolverhampton Wanderers takes his first training session at The Sir Jack Hayward Training Ground on December 19, 2024 ...
Photo by Jack Thomas – WWFC/Wolves via Getty Images
Vitor Pereira had interest from other English clubs but was sold by Wolves
There’s been a managerial merry-go-round at the bottom of England’s top flight. Leicester sacked Steve Cooper and replaced him with Ruud van Nistelrooy while Southampton axed Russell Martin and are set to appoint Ivan Juric.
Once Wolves sacked O’Neil, the club identified Pereira as the prime candidate to replace him, although they also approached Graham Potter last month.
Surprisingly, the Wanderers hierarchy were able to get the new manager in just four days after sacking the 41-year-old, and now he’s explained why he chose Wolves.
MORE WOLVES STORIES
Despite other clubs approaching him, it’s Pereira’s dream to manage in the Premier League and he also wants to work with ‘high quality’ players at Wolves.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference, as relayed by journalist Liam Keen, Pereira said: “It’s the PL, the best league in the world. It’s been my target for a long time. We have high-level players, I’m very happy to be here.
“I had approaches from some clubs in England but Wolves did the step forward. I had a project in Saudi but with this opportunity you can’t think twice.”
Fosun is lucky Pereira wanted to join Wolves
It’s refreshing to see that Wolves still have some power as a Premier League force, with Pereira choosing the Old Gold over every other club.
That being said, Fosun must now back Pereira in the transfer market and not make the same mistake where they’ve neglected to back the manager.
O’Neil spoke about Fosun’s flawed transfer strategy before he was sacked, and he detailed how much of a challenge it was working under conditions when the club sold their best players.
In January, money must be spent on improving the defence, in particular, but also keeping the likes of Matheus Cunha and Rayan Ait-Nouri – two players drawing significant interest.
Pereira will bring an exciting style to Wolves, and hopefully, his expertise can lead them to Premier League survival.
However, the cogs must all be turning in the same direction, and that means the ownership realising their previous mistakes.
Related Posts