Vitor Pereira has left Saudi Pro League club Al Shabab to manage the English Premier League side.
Premier League strugglers Wolverhampton Wanderers have signed Vitor Pereira from Saudi Pro League side Al Shabab.
Pereira, 56, takes over a team that is nearing the bottom of England's top flight, with just two wins from 16 games. Wolves are five points adrift of defense and close to halfway in the league.
Gary O'Neil was sacked on Sunday – just days after a 2-1 defeat to rivals Ipswich Town – after 16 months in charge.
“Pereira trained at Compton Park for the first time on Thursday and will be in charge of Wolves when they travel to Leicester City this weekend,” Wolves said in a statement ahead of Saturday's Premier League clash at the King Power Stadium.
Wolves paid the release clause in Pereira's deal with Al Shabab and the Portuguese signed an 18-month deal at Molineux.
Welcome to Wolves, Vitor 🤝
– Wolves (@Wolves) December 19, 2024
Following the game at Leicester, Wolves will face Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur later this month.
“This is a difficult time for the club, and we would like to thank Vitor for taking on this role,” said Wolves chairman Jeff Shi.
“We have full confidence in his ability to lead us back, along with the players and staff, and the whole team will be united in supporting him to succeed.”
Pereira made a name for himself at Porto as an assistant to Andre Villas-Boas, who left to join Chelsea in 2011 and left his protégé to take charge of the Portuguese side.
Pereira won the Primeira Liga twice with Porto, before signing with Saudi Arabia's Al Ahli in 2013 and embarking on an international career that would see him manage clubs such as Olympiakos Piraeus, Fenerbahce, Shanghai Port and Flamengo.
Al Shabab are currently sixth in the Saudi Pro League after 13 games and are 13 points behind leaders Al-Ittihad, with seven wins and four defeats to their name this season.
The players are in Qatar for a training session ahead of their league match against Pereira's former club, Al Ahli, on January 10.
Let's go! 💪🏼🤍🖤
The beginning of the Doha camp 🏕️ pic.twitter.com/A329LVbu0g– AlShabab Saudi Club (@AlShabab_EN) December 18, 2024