Carlos Carvalhal has been linked with a return to England after five years out of the country, with the Portuguese manager reportedly a contender for the Leeds United head coach vacancy.
The reports have been met what is best described as mixed receptions online, especially since Carvalhal used to manage Yorkshire rivals Sheffield Wednesday. So, what would he bring to Leeds United, should he be employed as manager.
Carvalhal has plenty of experience in the Championship after managing Wednesday and also managed a season in the Premier League with Swansea City, although he left when the Welsh side went down. His time at Wednesday was actually the longest time he has spent at any given club, lasting 131 games before he left by mutual consent.
He has had 21 jobs in his career so far, but his career has spanned 25 years. Bringing into question his longer-term commitment he can offer the Whites. The closest he came to achieving promotion out of the Championship was a double of play-off final defeats with Wednesday to Hull City and Huddersfield.
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Since his time in England, Carvalhal has had quite the story. He returned to Portugal in 2019 for arguably his best stint of his career, when he took Rio Ave from mediocrity to a Europa League finish and their best ever points tally in a season.
He then joined another Portuguese side in Braga the season after, leading them to a domestic trophy and a quarter-final in the Europa League. However, his commitment issues remained as he asked to leave to pursue ‘new projects’. He joined Al Wahda in the UAE league in June 2022, but he sensationally only lasted four games before being sacked.
In November this season Carvalhal moved to Celta Vigo in La Liga, recently keeping them up on the final day of the season, with a 2-1 win over champions Barcelona.
His play style has changed a lot and is hard to describe, he himself has said his teams do not play with a set system, but with ‘various principles of the game’.
One thing is for certain, should Leeds employ Carlos Carvalhal, there will be massive questions asked about their promotion hopes.
