Vítor Pereira arrived at Wolves in mid December, with the club in a growing panic over relegation. The 56-year-old manager was able to steer his squad away from danger and has done so well since arriving in English football that he’s been nominated for manager of the year.
It could have been very different, in a conversation with Spanish newspaper [Marca](http://marca.com), Pereira has made it clear that it wasn’t only Wolves chasing him from the Premier League.
The manager had a couple of options to choose from and picked Wolves after analysing what he thought he could get from the club’s squad.
Marca quote him as saying: _“I was with Al Shabab and received two offers from the Premier League. Analyzing the squads of both teams, I realised that Wolverhampton had individual quality. I never felt like it was a lost cause or something impossible.”_
On how he managed to turn things around at Wolves, from a cloud of pessimism hanging over the place to a much better outlook, Pereira explained: _“The most important thing was to restore the players’ confidence. I warned them: ‘If I didn’t see that I had the group’s trust, I wouldn’t sign.’ We started spending more time together to reconnect emotionally. The captains, especially Nélson Semedo, helped me a lot. We resumed training camps, we ate together again, and we planned several extra activities outside of football._
_“I set up a tactical GPS to convey clear and concrete concepts and build a playing identity. I broke it down into blocks (defence, attack, pressing, set pieces…) and we repeated it over and over again.”_
On his goals ahead of the coming season, and what he hopes to achieve, the Wolves manager told Marca: _“My expectation is to fight for a mid-table finish. I didn’t come to the Premier League to fight to avoid relegation. I came here with the idea of building a strong, consistent project. My goal is to create a competitive team that can compete against anyone, and both the club and I are looking for solutions. My ambition, and that of the fans, will be even higher next season.”_
Multiple players have already left Wolves, and Pereira made it clear he wants business done: _“We have a good, strong team, but I’m a little worried about the situation. We must bring in quality players because expectations are growing.”_