Vitor Pereira makes Fulham hint as Arbeloa faces biggest test

Vitor Pereira has made a clear hint at taking the Fulham job in an interview with TalkSPORT.

The Portuguese was sacked by Nottingham Forest over email last summer, despite ensuring safety and reaching the Europa League semi-finals.

It followed an excellent first season at Wolves, where he came in and again ensured safety at Molineux, before a ransacking of the club’s star players saw him sacked with the club on just two points from 10 matches last season.

Pereira has enjoyed his summer off to regroup, and has admitted that he has been watching the Premier League with a keen interest.

"The Premier League is my focus, and I’m preparing as well as I can to come back, because that’s where I want to be,” he told TalkSPORT.

"It’s where I feel challenged and motivated, and I’m waiting for the opportunity to return.

“I’ve been following the Premier League closely, keeping an eye on the teams and trying to understand the current trends in how they play.”

The news that Pereira, whose agent is Jorge Mendes, someone Fulham have worked closely with in recent years, is angling for another Premier League job could not be much worse for Alvaro Arbeloa.

The Spaniard is under immense pressure from all corners after a dismal start to the Premier League season.

The Cottagers have picked up just two points from their first six matches, slipping up again from a winning position against Ipswich last weekend.

That has led to the Spaniard reportedly being told that anything less than four points in the next two matches, against Hull and Coventry, will result in his sacking.

That suggests that a defeat to Hull, who have proven to be the surprise package of the Premier League this season, picking up nine points from their first six matches, would result in his removal after only seven matches.

Links have been swirling ever since the defeat to Ipswich, with Eddie Howe, Thomas Frank and Kieran McKenna all linked with taking over from Arbeloa.

But Pereira’s quotes and his links with Mendes suggest that he too could throw his hat in the ring, and his ability to get teams out of difficult situations could be exactly what Fulham need in the short term.

The 58-year-old does appear to be a short-term fixer sort of manager, staying in a job for over a year only once since he left Portugal, which came with Shanghai Shenua.

But, his ability to instantly turn things around for sides that are struggling could make him an attractive option for Tony Khan, who will be in attendance at Craven Cottage on Saturday for the clash with Hull.

Should that go wrong again for Arbeloa, it is expected his time will be up, and it could well be Pereira who steps into the void.