Vítor Pereira has been out of work since being dismissed by Wolverhampton Wanderers. The Portuguese coach does not hide his ambition to return to the Premier League, but this time he hopes to join a project that gives him the chance to challenge for the title.
"I want to reach a level where I can contend for the Premier League title. Throughout my career, I have always set goals for myself. I wanted to be a coach, and I achieved that. I wanted to coach in a top league, and I did. I wanted to win a domestic league title, and I did. I wanted to win a title abroad, and I did. I wanted to get into the Premier League, and I succeeded. Now my next goal is to reach a higher competitive level and be able to fight for the Premier League title," the 58-year-old said in an interview for the second episode of the fourth season of the "90+3" video podcast, broadcast on A Bola TV.
Asked whether he aspired to win the Champions League, Vítor Pereira replied, "That's a goal for later."
He added: "First, I must have the opportunity to reach that level. Of course, we can't win the Champions League by coaching Wolverhampton Wanderers, and I mean no disrespect to the club. However, keeping Wolves in the Premier League that season felt like winning the Champions League for me."
Speaking about "Leonardo da Vinci-type coaches" who constantly introduce new ideas, such as Pep Guardiola and Roberto De Zerbi, Vítor Pereira also praised Jorge Jesus.
"I admire his confidence. He says he can do something, and then he actually does it. Some of the things he does are really hard to explain, but he just does them! At the same time, he also absorbs ideas from others. When we spot a trend, we think about it, design the corresponding training content, and integrate it into the tactical system we want to build."
The coach from Espinho also revealed that Guardiola once adopted a suggestion he made and applied it in training straight away.
Referring to Jorge Jesus, Vítor Pereira also recalled the 2013 match between Porto and Benfica that decided the Portuguese league title. In that game, Kelvin scored a late winner in the 90+2nd minute, helping Porto win and retain the league title.
"I started running towards Jorge Jesus, and he fell right in front of me. At that moment, I felt his pain," Vítor Pereira recalled.
The celebration even split his trousers.
"I started to bend over, and at that moment my trousers began to slip down. My underwear was showing, and I was crying with excitement," he recalled with a laugh.
Vítor Pereira had previously worked in Porto's youth academy. He revealed that he returned to Porto as an assistant coach in 2010 out of a sense of "gratitude" towards the club.
At the time, he had already decided to start his career as a head coach and was in talks with Santa Clara about moving to Paços Ferreira. However, out of gratitude to Porto, he ultimately chose to return.
Vítor Pereira recalled that when he first spoke with Antero Henrique, Porto's senior executive, he did not even know who would be the team's head coach. In the end, Vítor Pereira not only returned to Porto but also succeeded André Villas-Boas, who is now the club's president, as head coach.
"That immense love for the club... I'm not sure if I said it explicitly then, but you could clearly feel that Villas-Boas had his own plan for the club. He had ambition, a desire to achieve certain goals, and the ability to match," Vítor Pereira said of Villas-Boas.