Everton wanted Andre Villas-Boas – but he allegedly doesn’t want a return to English football.
According to The Telegraph, Everton showed an interest in appointing Andre Villas-Boas as their new manager – but he isn’t keen on a return to the Premier League.
The Toffees endured a dismal start to the season, leading to Ronald Koeman’s sacking after the 5-2 home defeat to Arsenal in October – but over a month on, the Dutchman still hasn’t been replaced.
Caretaker boss David Unsworth hasn’t been able to steady the ship, given that his side were beaten 5-1 by Atalanta in the Europa League on Thursday night, and then 4-1 by Southampton on Sunday.
It now seems that Everton’s search for a new boss has become more urgent in the last few days, and The Telegraph report that they were interested in landing Andre Villas-Boas as their new manager.
However, the report states that Villas-Boas isn’t keen on a return to English football, and may not even return to football when he leaves his post as manager of Chinese Super League side Shanghai SIPG.
The 40-year-old had tumultuous spells in charge of Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur before heading to Zenit St. Petersburg and Shanghai SIPG, and it’s no surprise that he isn’t too interested in returning to the Premier League.
Intriguingly, Everton’s director of football Steve Walsh worked with Villas-Boas at Chelsea, reporting to him in their scouting department many, may years ago – as reported by The Guardian.
Walsh – allegedly still close to Villas-Boas – felt that the Portuguese boss was ahead of his time in terms of using technology to aid his work, which means a reunion could have been interesting – but that seems to have been ruled out if reports are to be believed.
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