At 31 years of age, André Villas-Boas started his journey into first team management at little Portuguese club Académica. Eight years hence, and a few stops at some of the biggest European clubs later, he now heads to China.
Chinese Super League club Shanghai SIPG named Villas-Boas their new manager earlier today, replacing ex-England manager Sven-Göran Erikkson. What went wrong for Villas-Boas in Europe, after making waves as the next best thing at the turn of the current decade, catching the fancy of Chelsea’s trigger-happy owner Roman Abramovich?
After winning a treble at FC Porto in his first season at the Estádio do Dragão, Villas-Boas perfectly fitted the profile of Abramovich’s dream manager, one who could take Chelsea to the next level in Europe.