Burnley’s pursuit of a new manager could see them go head-to-head with Abu Dhabi outfit Al Wahda to bring former Swansea City coach Carlos Carvalhal back to the Premier League, as reported by A Bola.
And the Clarets appear to have one major advantage over their Middle Eastern rivals.
Carvalhal, after all, turned down a move to Brazilian giants and 2019 Copa Libertadores winners Flamengo, simply because he didn’t want to uproot his family and drag them halfway across the world in the middle of a pandemic.
According to Corriere de Manha, the 56-year-old would not be quite so averse to swapping Braga for Burnley, however.
Carvalhal and his family have lived in England before, of course, spending time at Sheffield Wednesday and Swansea City between 2015 and 2018.
“I had offers from England,” Carvalhal tells Marca, expressing his interest in a return to British soil. “My intention was to go back there.
“I was very close to Flamengo. I finally decided to stay in Portugal because of the pandemic and because my family asked me not to leave.”
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Carvalhal has guided Braga to a fourth-place finish in the Primeira Liga, plus the quarter-finals of the UEFA Europa League, while bringing an end to Porto’s staggering 58-game domestic unbeaten run.
Despite that, he is all-but certain to leave the Minho-based outfit this summer, with Carvalhal and the club agreeing that a fresh start is for the best.
According to reports, Braga have identified World Cup winner and former Juventus boss Andrea Pirlo as a potential replacement.
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And while Al Wahda have shown an interest in taking Carvalhal back to the Middle East – he spent time at Al Ahli nearly a decade ago – A Bola claims that talks between coach and club have not yet taken place.
In addition to Carvalhal, Burnley are also reportedly keen on Nuno Espirito Santo, Daniel Farke, Slaven Bilic and Kjetil Knutsen. Chris Wilder and Wayne Rooney have distanced themselves from the post however.
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