A closer look at how Portuguese managers have fared in the Premier League

Ruben Amorim will become the Premier League’s seventh Portuguese manager when he takes charge of Manchester United for the first time.

Here, the PA news agency looks at the record of his predecessors – starting with a former United boss.

Jose Mourinho

Chelsea, Manchester United, Tottenham
363 Premier League matches;
Won 217, Drew 84, Lost 62; 60 per cent win rate
Premier League titles: 3
FA Cup: 1
League Cup: 4
Europa League: 1

United’s previous Portuguese appointment was statistically their most successful of the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era, even if that is a low bar to clear in the wake of the long-serving Scot’s extraordinary success. Mourinho won a League Cup and a Europa League with the club but his most successful spells in England came with Chelsea, winning three league titles, three more League Cups and an FA Cup after introducing himself as “a special one”. His time at Tottenham was less successful.

Marco Silva

Hull, Watford, Everton, Fulham
180 matches; W63 D37 L80; 35 per cent win rate

A left-field appointment by Hull in January 2017, Silva has since become a Premier League fixture. His time at Watford ended acrimoniously after he was head-hunted by Everton, where he finished eighth in his only full season in charge. After taking Fulham back up from the Championship, he has overseen 10th and 13th-placed finishes and an FA Cup quarter-final and has them in the top half again this term.

Nuno Espirito Santo

Wolves, Tottenham, Nottingham Forest
154 matches; W58 D40 L56; 38 per cent win rate

Appointed in the Championship, Nuno took Wolves to promotion with four games to spare and led a team containing a large number of his compatriots to consecutive seventh-placed finishes and a Europa League quarter-final. He left by mutual consent after a 13th-placed finish and had a short, unhappy spell at Spurs before returning from Saudi side Al-Ittihad to achieve survival with Forest – where he is thriving this season, with his side lying seventh and just two points behind third-placed Arsenal.

Andre Villas-Boas

Chelsea, Tottenham
81 matches; W42 D19 L20; 52 per cent win rate

Villas-Boas followed his former boss Mourinho’s path from Porto to Chelsea but failed to last a season. He was initially more successful at Spurs, narrowly missing out on Champions League qualification with 72 points – at the time the club’s best Premier League tally – but was dismissed midway through his second season after a disappointing run of results. His subsequent adventures have seen him drive in the Dakar rally and return to Porto as club president.

Bruno Lage

Wolves
46 matches; W16 D9 L21; 35 per cent win rate

Succeeding Nuno at Molineux in 2021, Lage guided his side to a 10th-placed finish despite a disappointing end to the season, but he lasted just seven games of the 2022-23 season before being shown the door.

Carlos Carvalhal

Swansea
18 matches; W5 D5 L8; 28 per cent win rate

The former Sheffield Wednesday boss took over after the sacking of Paul Clement in December 2017 but, after winning just five games and failing to avoid relegation, left his role at the end of the season.