When Ruben Amorim takes charge of his first match as Manchester United head coach at Ipswich Town on Sunday, he will become the seventh Portuguese to manage in the Premier League.
Amorim's fellow countrymen have enjoyed mixed fortunes, from Chelsea's title-winner Jose Mourinho to relegation for Carlos Carvalhal at Swansea City.
While Amorim becomes Man Utd's second Portuguese head coach - Mourinho was the first - Tottenham Hotspur still lead the way, having had three bosses from that country: Andre Villas-Boas, Mourinho and Nuno Espirito Santo.
Mourinho is well out in front of his compatriots for the most matches in the competition, having overseen nearly twice as many as his nearest rival Marco Silva, while Mourinho also boasts the best win percentage and average for points per match.
Portuguese managers' stats in Premier League
| Manager | Matches | Win | Win % | Pts/match |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mourinho (CHE, MUN, TOT) | 363 | 217 | 59.8% | 2.02 |
| Villas-Boas (CHE, TOT) | 81 | 42 | 51.9% | 1.79 |
| Nuno (WOL, TOT, NFO) | 156 | 59 | 37.8% | 1.39 |
| Silva (HUL, WAT, EVE, FUL) | 182 | 65 | 35.7% | 1.27 |
| Lage (WOL) | 46 | 16 | 34.8% | 1.24 |
| Carvalhal (SWA) | 18 | 5 | 27.8% | 1.11 |
Here we take a closer look at how Amorim's six compatriots have fared.
Jose Mourinho (Chelsea, Man Utd, Spurs)
The self-appointed "Special One" lived up to his own billing at Chelsea after arriving in 2004.
Mourinho won three Premier League titles, three EFL Cups and the FA Cup at Stamford Bridge, adding the Community Shield, EFL Cup and the UEFA Europa League during his time at Man Utd.
Indeed, Mourinho's spell at Old Trafford has been statistically United's most successful of the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era, winning 58.3 per cent of his 144 matches across all competitions, with an average of 1.89 points per match.
In total, Mourinho has managed 363 Premier League matches, victorious in 217 of them, recording a 59.8 per cent success rate and points per match average of 2.02.
Currently in charge of Fenerbahce in Turkey, he said recently that he's ready for a return to the Premier League, so who knows? We may yet see him again.
Andre Villas-Boas (Chelsea, Spurs)
It's been almost 11 years since Villas-Boas said goodbye to the Premier League.
Having followed his former manager Mourinho’s path from Porto to Chelsea, the coach with an alleged disdain for statistics found that his number was up at Stamford Bridge within eight months.
He lasted longer at Spurs but was sacked despite having the best record in the Premier League era of any manager of the north London club. Overall, Villas-Boas won over half of his matches at the helm, with 42 victories from 81 contests, or 51.9 per cent.
His average of points won was an impressive 1.79 per match, the second-best among the six Portuguese managers.
Nuno Espirito Santo (Wolves, Spurs, Nott'm Forest)
First arriving in English football in 2017, Nuno swiftly ended Wolves' six-year absence from the Premier League.
Thanks to a number of his compatriots such as Diogo Jota and Joao Moutinho, he went on to guide the club to a seventh-place finish and a UEFA Europa League quarter-final before his four-year spell in charge was ended in 2021.
A short stay at Spurs was followed by a stint at Saudi Arabian side Al-Ittihad, leading them to the title, before he returned to the Premier League at Nottingham Forest in December 2023.
Forest are thriving under the 50-year-old, currently sitting fifth in the table, and he was named October's Barclays Manager of the Month.
In total, Nuno has won 59 of his 156 top-flight matches - a success rate of 37.8 per cent - and he has averaged 1.39 points per match.
Marco Silva (Hull City, Watford, Everton, Fulham)
Weeks away from the eighth anniversary of his Premier League arrival, Silva's reputation continues to grow, with his Fulham side sitting seventh in the table.
His first Premier League club was Hull City, joining them in January 2017, and he has now taken charge of 182 top-flight matches, with Hull, Watford, Everton and Fulham.
Silva has won 65 of them, giving him a win percentage of 35.7, and he has averaged 1.27 points per match.
Bruno Lage (Wolves)
His 16-months in charge ended with his team in the bottom three and struggling to score goals.
Lage took over at Wolves in June 2021 and led them to a 10th-place finish in his first full season at Molineux. But things didn't go to plan the year after, and by October they found themselves in trouble.
He won 16 of his 46 matches, with a 34.8 per cent win rate. He also claimed an average of 1.24 points per match.
Carlos Carvalhal (Swansea)
Taking over in south Wales following Paul Clement's departure in December 2017, there was a lot of work ahead, with only three wins on the board.
He managed five wins from his 18 matches in charge, but it wasn't enough to save Swansea from relegation back to the Championship.
Carvalhal's 27.8 per cent win rate produced an average of 1.11 points per match.
