Wolves really landed on their feet with the appointment of Vitor Pereira – and the manager has now revealed he gave the club a warning when he was in talks to succeed Gary O’Neil.
Wolves ended up finishing 16th in the Premier League table in 2024/25, with Vitor Pereira coming in midway through and turning things around.
The Portuguese arrived from Al-Shabab, and there were certainly raised eyebrows about the appointment given how many clubs Pereira has had in his career.
But Pereira has done a terrific job so far, and fans are now very optimistic about the future. Wolves supporters have lapped up Pereira’s passion, and some even feel he could bring back the good times that haven’t been seen since the Nuno Espirito Santo days.
One of the most pressing matters for Pereira when he first came in was to breathe new life into the players.
They were beleaguered, and emotions had been spilling over.
The situation wasn’t good, and Pereira knew he had a big job on his hands – and he actually did need one big assurance before agreeing to take the job.
Vitor Pereira insisted he had everyone’s trust before agreeing to become Wolves manager
Wolves manager Vitor Pereira gives a thumbs up.
Photo by Charlie Crowhurst/Getty Images
Pereira became Wolves manager on December 19, with Wolves languishing in the relegation zone.
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Wolves had looked at a number of other managers, including the likes of David Moyes, Graham Potter and Sergio Conceicao.
But none of those fancied taking the job on.
Certainly, there was a huge amount to do – but Pereira says he believed in the quality of Wolves’ squad.
While he felt good about the players he’d be working with though, Pereira has admitted he did warn Wolves that he needed the full trust of the players if he was going to take over.
He said in a new interview with Marca (published via print edition, 22/06): “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.”
Vitor Pereira’s authority is impressive
As well as getting results, Pereira has largely said all the right things during his time at Wolves so far, which is another reason for the optimism about the future.
He has always been very self assured, and speaks with authority.
One gets the sense that he will not tolerate any nonsense from those above him, which is refreshing.
Jeff Shi at Molineux watching Wolves play against Manchester City.
Photo by MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Fans would like to hope that his bullishness will get him what he wants.
We have seen previously how the likes of Gary O’Neil and Bruno Lage were not really backed as well as they could have been.
Lage even once admitted he wished he’d been more forceful at Wolves in order to get the tools he needed to progress. Hopefully, Pereira will not miss out on those tools.