Vitor Matos, one of Jurgen Klopp‘s right-hand men at Liverpool, has been named as the “leading contender” to take charge of a surprise Championship club.
Vitor Matos could be on the move
After being linked with the Swansea manager’s job on Monday, Tuesday saw Matos emerge as the favourite for the role.
According to talkSPORT‘s chief football correspondent, Alex Crook, the 37-year-old is now the “leading contender” after Swansea’s top target, Kim Hellberg, reportedly agreed a move to Middlesbrough instead.
Hellberg is currently manager of Swedish club Hammarby who are second in the Allsvenskan.
This means Steven Gerrard won’t be taking over from Rob Edwards at the Riverside, having previously been linked with a return to management.
At the moment, Matos is managing Maritimo in the Portuguese second division, where he joined as manager after working on Pep Lijnders’ staff at Red Bull Salzburg for fewer than six months.
Before arriving at Liverpool, where he served as development coach from 2019 until 2024, the Portuguese earned his stripes as a youth coach at Porto.
Now he is looking to become the boss instead of an assistant.
Today’s Liverpool FC News
• Wataru Endo has said he is “not completely satisfied” with his lack of minutes at club and international level – he played in just one of Japan’s two games this week despite being captain
• After missing the majority of 2025 with a back injury, This Is Anfield understands left-back Luke Chambers could be in line for a return before the end of the year
• Liverpool Women captain and defender Grace Fisk has been named in the upcoming England squad – she has been called up once before but is yet to win a cap
More from This Is Anfield
With news breaking that Antoine Semenyo has a £65 million release clause that will drop even further in the summer, according to the Athletic, Jack Lusby weighed up the pros and cons of Liverpool making a move:
“In 92 games in the top flight so far, he has 26 goals and 12 assists – including 17 goals and nine assists in 48 league games since the start of last season.
“Furthermore, despite being a Ghana international, Semenyo was born in London and played youth football in South Gloucestershire before coming through the ranks at Bristol City.
“He is therefore eligible as a homegrown player in the Premier League and association-trained in the Champions League.”
READ: Antoine Semenyo to Liverpool transfer: 7 pros and 3 cons for £65m signing
Elsewhere in the football world today
• Gabriel‘s injury could cause him to miss a minimum of four weeks, with sources indicating the Arsenal man’s absence could stretch to January (BBC Sport)
• Man United‘s Benjamin Sesko should miss a month at most, report Sky Sports, following a knee injury picked up against Tottenham
• Norwich have appointed former Rangers boss Philippe Clement as their head coach – it is a a three-and-a-half-year contract
What to watch
Liverpool may not be in form at the moment, but it was just mere months ago that we were hailing Arne Slot as the best coach around.
In his new book, Walk On: Inside Arne Slot’s Liverpool, journalist James Pearce details the transition from Jurgen Klopp‘s exit to Slot’s title-winning campaign.
In his chat with This Is Anfield, Pearce even revealed that Klopp invited Michael Edwards to his house to give him as much information as possible about the players.
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