Former Wolves and Nottingham Forest boss Vitor Pereira eyes a bold return to the Premier League
Vitor Pereira says he’s ready to return to the Premier League after leaving Nottingham Forest at the end of the 2025/26 season.
The 58-year-old departed the City Ground in July after steering Forest well clear of relegation and leading them to the semi-finals of the Europa League despite being the club’s fourth permanent manager of the season.
Pereira followed Nuno Espirito Santo, Ange Postecoglou and Sean Dyche in the hottest of hotseats and made a decent fist of it before Oliver Glasner was brought in from top Forest friends Crystal Palace to replace him.
Vitor Pereira is ready to return to Premier League management
The Portuguese was 20 years into his managerial career when he arrived in England to succeed Gary O’Neil in charge of a struggling Wolverhampton Wanderers team. They cruised to safety under their new manager, who quickly connected with the Molineux faithful.
It was a short-lived partnership. Pereira was given a new deal in September 2025 but was sacked in November with Wolves striding unwaveringly along the miserable road back to the Championship. He joined Forest in February and is currently out of work.
“I want to reach a level where I can compete for titles in the Premier League,” Pereira told A BOLA TV via Sport Witness.
“Throughout my career, I’ve set goals for myself. I wanted to become a coach, and I did, I wanted to reach the top flight, and I did. I wanted to become a national champion, and I did. Then I wanted to win titles abroad, and I did. I wanted to reach the Premier League, and I did.
“My next objective is to reach a competitive level that allows me to fight for titles in the Premier League.”
Pereira’s previous jobs took him from Portugal to Saudi Arabia, Greece, Turkey, Germany, China and even Brazil, where he managed two legendary clubs in the form of Corinthians and Flamengo.
His vast and eclectic experience saw him become a league champion in Portugal with Porto, in Greece with Olympiacos, and in China with Shanghai Port.
He was succeeded as Wolves boss by Molineux favourite Rob Edwards, who managed to get his team performing in moments but was ultimately powerless to halt one of the Premier League’s bleakest relegations.
The former Welsh international was controversially sacked at the end of last season and replaced with another Portuguese manager as Wolves continued to try to get things right behind the scenes as well as in the dugout.
Peixoto looks a suitable fit for Wolves, whose target is a Premier League return of their own, but getting them playing in the Championship is a very different task than keeping them in the top flight.
Pereira has that on his CV along with plenty of other achievements besides. Whether he can achieve his bullish next target is another matter.
