Wolves are in talks with Vitor Pereira after parting ways with head coach Gary O’Neil and his staff on Sunday, per CBS Sports sources.
Pereira, a four-time league winner over a two decade managerial career, is currently in charge of Al Shabab in the Saudi Pro League and Wolves would have to pay compensation to extricate him from his deal. However, with the Riyadh club sixth in the top flight, convincing them to part ways with Pereira, who joined in February, may not be a great problem.
The 56-year-old has enjoyed success with the likes of Porto, Olympiacos and Shanghai SIPG and Pereira has also been a candidate for vacancies at Everton on multiple occasions. Pereira speaks good English and is used to working with a squad as cosmopolitan as Wolves’, though that group has so far struggled to drag itself clear of the Premier League relegation zone this season.
That ultimately cost O’Neil his job with Wolves 19th in the Premier League and five points from safety after Saturday’s 2-1 defeat at home to Ipswich Town.
“We’re very grateful to Gary for all of his effort, dedication and hard work during his time at the club, and we wish him and his team the best of luck for the future,” said chairman Jeff Shi.
In addition to poor results — only two of their 16 top-flight matches this season have been won — a string of disciplinary issues marred O’Neil’s final weeks on the job. Mario Lemina had been stripped of the captaincy following his altercation with Jarrod Bowen after a defeat at West Ham on Monday. Five days later, left back Rayan Ait-Nouri had to be dragged off the pitch by Craig Dawson having been shown a red card after the final whistle.
Pereira, who could be in place for next week’s match away to Leicester, will have to address those disciplinary problems but may also feel that a squad light on options in the final third and particularly at center back needs strengthening if Wolves are to beat the drop.
