Marco Silva sacked

Vitor Pereira has emerged as Everton’s first-choice to become their new manager following the sacking of Marco Silva.

The highly-regarded 51-year-old is keen to move to the Premier League and is believed to also be on Arsenal’s radar having previously been considered by Chelsea.

Pereira is currently the coach of Chinese club Shanghai SIPG who have offered him a new three-year deal but he is set to turn that down. The Portuguese has also been asked whether he would like to become the coach of Chinese national team but Telegraph Sport understands that he is willing to talk to Everton.

Pereira is currently one of the highest-paid managers in world football earning €23million a year but clearly will not receive anywhere near that salary at Everton. He is also a serial winner having won league titles in Portugal, back-to-back titles with Porto, in Greece with Olympiakos and in China where he guided Shanghai SIPG to their first ever league title. Pereira has also coached in Turkey and Saudi Arabia.

Pereira was interviewed by Everton before the appointment of Roberto Martinez in 2013 but did not get the job at that time partly because he did not have a grasp of English. But he now speaks the language fluently.

Whether the Everton fans will be enthused by the prospect of another Portuguese coach - and one with no Premier League experience - after Silva remains to be seen. There is still backing within the Everton board for David Moyes to return to the club he managed for 11 years, before he left for Manchester United to be replaced by Martinez, but his chances of taking over have undoubtedly reduced.

Moyes, with the former player Tim Cahill as his assistant, was the clear favourite at one stage on Thursday although Everton supporters have not backed his appointment.

Source: Telegraph

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