Serial winner Vitor Pereira emerges as a MAJOR contender for Everton job following interview... as Farhad Moshiri aims to hire 'forward-thinking' manager to replace Rafa Benitez

Vitor Pereira is emerging as a serious contender for the Everton job with the club’s owner Farhad Moshiri eager to make a ‘forward-thinking’ appointment. 

Sportsmail understands the highly-rated Portuguese head coach has been interviewed for the vacancy following Rafa Benitez’s sacking last weekend. 

Serial winner Pereira, who has won nine trophies during his managerial career so far, is understood to have impressed during talks with the club in recent days and is viewed as a strong candidate among senior members of the Everton hierarchy. 

Vitor Pereira was most recently in charge of Fenerbahce, leaving the Turkish club last month

Moshiri, the Merseyside club’s majority shareholder, is keen to appoint a coach he views as a visionary and who he feels can breathe new life and fresh ideas into Goodison Park following a string of appointments of managers who have all had previous Premier League experience. 

Everton figures are understood to have previously considered the left field appointments of Mauricio Pochettino, Ralph Hasenhuttl and Graham Potter – all of which had no Premier League managerial experience at the time – but all went on to build strong sides in England and see the merits in mirroring that approach. 

Arsenal famously plucked Arsene Wenger, one of the greatest English top-flight managers in history, from Japanese football.  

There is a feeling within the Everton boardroom that it is time to make an inventive appointment rather than go with someone just because they are tried and tested in the Premier League, with Pereira understood to be a strong candidate if Everton decide to go down that route. 

Pereira has won nine trophies in his managerial career, including two league titles with Porto

Farhad Moshiri is eager to make a ‘forward-thinking’ appointment to replace Rafa Benitez

The 53-year-old has been on the club’s radar for some time; he has been interviewed for the head coach’s position on two previous occasions – the first prior to Roberto Martinez’s appointment and then prior to Carlo Ancelotti’s. 

Similarly, he was a contender for the Arsenal job following the dismissal of Unai Emery and held talks with the Gunners while he was also on Chelsea’s shortlist prior to Frank Lampard’s appointment but his £25million release clause at Shanghai SIPG was ultimately too prohibitive. 

Pereira would arrive with a proven track record of winning and developing players. 

He led Porto to the title during his two seasons in charge at the Portuguese club, in 2012 and 2013, when he was named Portuguese coach of the year. 

He was Andre Villas-Boas’s assistant during the 2010-11 season when Porto also lifted the title. 

Pereira, 53, has impressed Everton’s hierarchy in talks with the Merseyside club in recent days

As well as Porto, the Portuguese has also held the top job at Fenerbahce and Olympiakos, where he won the Greek title. 

Pereira has also helped develop the likes of Joao Moutinho, James Rodriguez, Radamel Falcao, Nicolas Otamendi and Hulk. 

Indeed, Pereira’s track record in European football is understood to be attracting Everton’s owners as they look to identify Benitez’s successor.