Pereira held West Brom and Everton talks in his quest to move to England

Vitor Pereira has revealed he almost joined Wolves’ bitter rivals West Brom.

The Portuguese has had several opportunities to move to the Premier League over the last 15 years before being appointed at Molineux in December.

He spoke to Chelsea, Everton, Crystal Palace, Watford and Arsenal and admitted he held talks with the Baggies over a decade ago.

“Do you know how many meetings I had here? The first one, West Bromwich, in the Premier League, maybe 15 years ago,” he told BBC Sport.

“The second? Everton. Third? Crystal Palace with the proposal, with the contract for two and-a-half years.

“OK, we can celebrate with a pint and then they changed the idea for another but I realised that is normal here.

“After that, Chelsea, then Everton again, then Arsenal. I had a very long, very good meeting with Arsenal before they signed (Mikel) Arteta.

“Watford was the only time that I said no. I didn’t want to do it. It was the time that they were relegated.”

His previous chance to come to England, before Molineux, was with Everton in 2022 when the Toffees were replacing Rafa Benitez, while he also spoke to them in 2019 as a possible replacement for Marco Silva.

“It was three times with Everton. With Everton, with the contract was agreed – everything – to start to work tomorrow. My bags were packed,” he said.

“But when tomorrow came, it was a case of ‘check in, check out, check in, check out, check in’ – for one week.

“It was winter. It’s a lot. It means now I’m very happy to be here.

“I’m very grateful to the club because they gave me the opportunity to be in the league that I believe gives me the opportunity to be at my best level.

“It challenges me and I need to be challenged. If I go to a league and tactically, I cannot express myself, that is not for me. But in this league, I can do it.”