Villas-Boas replaces Eriksson in China with huge salary

Former Chelsea and Tottenham coach has just taken up a position at Shanghai SIPG, replacing sacked predecessor Sven-Goran Eriksson.

Villas-Boas was invited by Shanghai SIPG to replace Eriksson. Having been unemployed since leaving Russian club Zenit St Petersburg in May, the 39-year-old coach quickly accepted the offer. The high salary, reported by the Chinese press to be up to $13.6 million after tax per year, made it no long before the Portuguese coach considered moving to the East Asian country.

Villas-Boas was once linked with Italy to coach Inter, but accepted an offer to coach Shanghai SIPG in China. Photo: AFP.

Villas-Boas won the Europa League with Porto, led Chelsea in the 2011-2012 season, and Tottenham in the 2012-2013 season. Attracting such a famous coach is another successful step for China in its ambition to expand its reputation and become a football powerhouse.

Besides the hard-to-refuse salary, Hulk's influence was also an important factor connecting Villas-Boas with Shanghai SIPG. The Brazilian striker was a close student of Villas-Boas at both Porto and Zenit.

"Villas-Boas is a leading young coach in European football, with great passion and extensive experience in the game. We believe that his arrival will help the team improve its tactical awareness and take the club to new heights," Shanghai SIPG's announcement about the appointment of the new coach said.

Villas-Boas was once known as a disciple of Jose Mourinho in the field of coaching. He matured quickly after leaving his position as Mourinho's assistant at Inter to start his coaching career. Villas-Boas quickly achieved success when leading Porto to a treble in the 2010-2011 season: Portuguese Championship, National Cup and Europa League.

Hulk will be reunited with the coach he once had a good relationship with at Porto and then Zenit. Photo: AFP.

Following in Mourinho's footsteps, Villas-Boas also used his success at Porto as a springboard to move to Chelsea in the summer of 2011. However, the Premier League became too harsh for a young coach like Villas-Boas. He failed at Chelsea and Tottenham.

Villas-Boas' career only took off again after he moved to Russia, leading Zenit St Petersburg to the 2015 Russian Premier League title and winning the Russian Cup last season.

Villas-Boas’ predecessor, Sven-Goran Eriksson, was one of the most famous managers to have played in the Chinese Super League. But the former England boss paid the price for a poor 2016 campaign, with Shanghai SIPG finishing third, 12 points behind champions Guangzhou Evergrande.

Combined with the previous empty-handed season, Eriksson failed to bring home any titles for Shanghai SIPG in his two years in charge. This was considered a terrible result when compared to superstars that the club spent a lot of money to buy and pay salaries like Hulk..., and led the Shanghai SIPG board to decide to fire the 68-year-old coach.

Eriksson paid the price for failing to help Shanghai SIPG win any titles in the past two years. Photo: AFP.

Eriksson lost his job at Shanghai SIPG, but is expected to continue working in China, with a possible new destination being Beijing Guoan, the team that finished fifth in the national championship last season.

According to VNE