(Football news) After Rafa Benitez’s sacking it looks like Vitor Pereria could be the leading candidate for the Everton managerial job as he looks most likely to take an interim job position initially before being appointed as the full time coach. Roberto Martínez was their first choice but the Belgian Football Association rejected a proposal for the Spaniard. Along with him Wayne Rooney and the former Monaco coach Niko Kovac are also some candidates for the job, and Frank Lampard has already been interviewed for the vacancy but according to the rumor mill it looks like Farhad Moshiri will look to appoint the Portuguese.
The club's owner Farhad Moshiri is searching for a 'progressive' and 'forward-thinking' manager who can not only help Everton out of their relegation battle but also lead them with a proper and a distinct playing style for the years to come. This is going be his third interview for the Everton job as it may prove to be third time lucky for Pereira who was interviewed by Everton prior to Robert Martinez's appointment in 2013 and again before Carlo Ancelotti arrived in 2019. He was that committed to staying with Shanghai SIPG as he was very close to joining them when Marco Silva had got the sack. He led Shanghai SIPG to the 2018 Chinese Super League title as Pereira has previously also won the Portuguese league with Porto twice and secured the Greek title with Olympiakos. His most recent job was a second stint at Fenerbahce, which ended in the sack last December after less than six months as the club were trailing the league leaders Trabzonspor by 14 points.
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In December 2017 Pereira joined 1860 Munich to try to avoid relegation from Germany’s second tier but the club went down in a play-off. Everton are effectively in the same boat as they are in a relegation battle after losing at home to Aston Villa under Duncan Ferguson’s caretaker management. Four points separate them from third-bottom Newcastle who subsequently have gotten stronger with all the winter acquisitions they made, although Everton have a game in hand it still looks like a tough job especially the form that they are currently in. Pereira was also a contender for Arsenal when they sacked Unai Emery and also on Chelsea's shortlist before they opted for club legend Frank Lampard. At that time, the Shanghai SIPG had a £25million release clause on his contract and was deemed too expensive for even Roman Abramovich but with Pereira currently out of work, there shouldn’t be any such issues for Everton to appoint him as their new manager.
