Vitor Pereira admits he had prioritised a move to Premier League giants Everton before being unveiled as the new coach of Corinthians instead, speaking to Gazeta Esportiva, via ESPN.
Perhaps, if Pereira had not taken the very unusual step of conducting an exclusive interview with Sky Sports in what felt like a desperate attempt to curry favour with those suspicious Everton supporters, it would be him, rather than Frank Lampard, patrolling the Goodison Park touchline these days.
It’s fair to say the former Porto boss was not exactly a popular appointment on Gwladys Street.
Viewed by many as ‘Moshiri’s man’ given his ties with the under-fire Everton owner and super-agent Kia Joorabchian, Pereira was facing calls for his head even before he’d even got the job.
And, with that most baffling of interviews backfiring spectacularly, Pereira is making no attempt to hide his disappointment as one of the biggest jobs in English football slips through his fingers for the third time in eight years.
Will Vitor Pereira ever get the Everton job?
“The negotiation with Corinthians was not quick,” explains 53-year-old Pereira after signing a short-term deal with the Brazilian giants.
“I always had the intention of working in England. I was in talks for a week to sign with Everton. But it didn’t happen.
“I didn’t prepare myself mentally to go to Brazil at this moment. But what happened is that they (Corinthians) insisted so much, wanted me so much. And I, as I am very emotional, accepted the project. This is my project.
“At the beginning of the negotiations, I was not prepared, my family was not prepared. But Corinthians’ insistence paid off.”
A league champion with Porto, Olympiakos and Shanghai SIPG, Pereira’s track record certainly paints the picture of a man capable of continuing a recent trend of Portuguese tacticians dominating the Brazilian football landscape.
Jorge Jesus led Flamengo to an unprecedented treble in 2019. And, just last year, Abel Ferreria’s Palmeiras secured the Copa Libertadores title for a second successive season.
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