This ex-Liverpool coach is destined for the Premier League
Snoop Dogg, Luka Modric and Martha Stewart aren’t used to being upstaged, but Swansea City fans have a new hero whose feats in South Wales are putting even the club’s celebrity co-owners in the shade.
Vitor Matos was appointed head coach of the Championship side last November, when they were 20th in the table and at risk of being dragged into a relegation fight. He guided Swansea to a top-half finish last season and has them among the early pace-setters this term, with supporters dreaming of a return to the Premier League.
The Portuguese, 38, is quietly doing one of the best managerial jobs in the top four divisions. If you weren’t aware of him, remember the name – because it surely won’t be long before he is in the Premier League, with or without Swansea.
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Why Vitor Matos is one of the brightest young coaches in the EFL
Born just outside Porto, Matos is said to have been inspired to go into coaching by Jose Mourinho’s success at the Portuguese giants. He was in his mid-teens when ‘The Special One’ led Porto to the UEFA Cup and Champions League in 2003 and 2004 respectively.
After starting out at local clubs, Matos joined Porto in 2011 and progressed from Under 9s coach to assistant manager of the club’s B team, via a two-year spell in the youth set-up at Chinese Super League outfit Shandon Luneng.
At Porto he met Pep Lijnders, who also rose from the academy to the senior set-up before joining Liverpool in 2014. When the Reds needed a new elite development coach in 2019 – a role Lijnders held before becoming assistant manager – Matos got the call.
Then-manager Jurgen Klopp told Liverpool’s official website at the time: “[He’s] a really great guy, an outstanding coach. Young and experienced, you don’t get that a lot. A kind of guy who is used to six or seven sessions a day. He is smart, his English is very good – which is obviously important – and he has worked at different clubs.”
Matos spent five years acting as a bridge between the academy and the first team at Anfield, helping to develop the likes of Curtis Jones, Jarell Quansah, Neco Williams and Harvey Elliott, before becoming Lijnders’ assistant at Austrian side RB Salzburg in summer 2024.
He left when Lijnders was sacked the following December and was appointed head coach of Portuguese second-tier outfit Maritimo in June 2025, only to be poached by Swansea just 12 games into his tenure.
Matos’ backstory is relevant as it helps explain why he is a good coach. He has worked in multiple countries, trained players of all abilities and ages, and learnt from some elite managers. When you consider that Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta and Manchester City counterpart Enzo Maresca both worked under Pep Guardiola and are now managing the two favourites for the Premier League title, it is no surprise that Matos is thriving after spending five years with Klopp.
Maritimo’s metrics under Matos reportedly brought him to Swansea’s attention and he is said to have impressed influential figures at the club, including Modric. Despite all that, the Swans undoubtedly took a risk in appointing a coach with no Championship experience to lead them away from relegation – but that risk has paid off handsomely.
After losing his first two games, Matos won five of the next seven to guide Swansea clear of the drop zone. The club didn’t make a notable signing in the January transfer window but still picked up the 10th-highest points total in the Championship between the manager’s arrival and the end of the season. They finished 11th with largely the same group of players that were floundering earlier in the campaign, which is always a sign of a good coach.
Swansea did spend money this summer, when they announced they had started working with data specialists Jamestown Analytics, co-founded by Brighton & Hove Albion owner Tony Bloom. Jamestown has played a key role in the success of Brighton, Hearts and Italian side Como, among others.
The Swans signed players from Austria, Belgium, Portugal, Scotland and Sweden for more than £20m combined, but continuity has been key to Swansea’s early-season form. In fact, the club’s top five players for both starts and minutes played across the opening seven games of the Championship campaign comprised three who were there last term – Josh Tymon, Lawrence Vigouroux and Marko Stamenic – plus Stephen Welsh, a free signing this summer, and Filip Lissah, a 21-year-old academy graduate who had made one substitute appearance before last month.
Ten of the 16 players who appeared in the 3-1 win over Burnley on September 12 also featured in Matos’ first game in charge. After beating the Clarets, the head coach praised Brazilian forward Ronald, who has had a disappointing two-and-a-half years at the club but provided the assist for Swansea’s third goal. It illustrates again how players who were previously underperforming have thrived in Matos’ favoured 4-3-3/4-2-3-1 system, where the team are encouraged to press high – an approach shaped by his time with Klopp.
He has also had to deal with losing key centre back Cameron Burgess to a season-ending Achilles injury on the eve of the campaign, as well as the summer departure of influential midfielder Ethan Galbraith.
Matos was named Championship Manager of the Month for August, but his success can be measured over his entire tenure. Ahead of last Saturday’s trip to Lincoln City, he had averaged 1.65 Points Per Game across his 37 league matches, which translates to 76 points in a 46-game season – enough for a play-off spot. Despite this, Swansea’s form has largely gone under the radar, perhaps because they never troubled the play-offs last term, or because this season is still in its infancy.
In an open Championship promotion race, there is no reason why Matos’ side can’t reach the play-offs, especially with eighth place now enough to qualify. That would be a terrific achievement for a club who had regressed to mid-table mediocrity since losing the play-off final to Brentford in 2020/21.
But even if Swansea’s promotion push falls short, Matos’ personal bid for the Premier League surely won’t end there. Having quietly gone about his business in South Wales, it is only a matter of time until top-flight clubs start to take notice.
