Vítor Matos

In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is Soares and the second or paternal family name is Matos.
Vítor Matos
Matos at Red Bull Salzburg in 2024
Personal information
Full name Vítor Emanuel Soares Matos
Date of birth (1988-03-28) 28 March 1988
Place of birth Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal
Team information
Current team
 Swansea City (head coach)
Managerial career
Years Team
2025 Marítimo
2025– Swansea City

Vítor Emanuel Soares Matos (born 28 March 1988) is a Portuguese football manager who is the head coach of EFL Championship club Swansea City.

Matos began his career coaching youth teams in Portugal, including at Porto. After two years coaching at Shandong Luneng in China, he returned to Porto before joining Premier League club Liverpool as an elite development coach under Jürgen Klopp in 2019. Five years later, Matos joined Pepijn Lijnders as his assistant coach at Red Bull Salzburg.

In 2025, Matos became manager of Liga Portugal 2 club Marítimo, his first job as a head coach of a senior team. He was appointed head coach of Swansea City later that year.

Career

Early career

Born in Vila Nova de Gaia in the Porto metropolitan area, Matos played football for Coimbrões and Valadares.[1] At age 15, he was inspired to become a coach when compatriot José Mourinho won the UEFA Champions League for Porto in 2004.[1] After studying in the Netherlands, Matos returned to Portugal aged 21 to manage Valadares' under-19s before moving to Trofense.[1]

In 2011, Matos joined Porto, where he coached the under-9s to under-17s while working as an analyst for the under-19 and B-teams.[1] He had two years in China with Shandong Luneng as their technical coordinator and under-16s coach, leading them to two youth championship titles.[2] Matos then returned to Porto, where he was assistant manager of the B-team in 2018–19.[1]

Matos joined Jürgen Klopp's staff at Liverpool in October 2019 as the club's elite development coach.[3] He was tasked with developing Liverpool's academy players and helping them adapt to the first team.[1][4] Matos also assisted with training sessions and game planning for the club's under-23s and first team, with Liverpool winning the Premier League during his first season.[5]

In May 2024, Matos was one of twenty candidates to be issued a UEFA Pro Licence by the Football Association of Wales.[6] Later that month, he left Liverpool, alongside Klopp and his assistant, Pepijn Lijnders.[5] Matos then joined Lijnders as his assistant at Red Bull Salzburg in the Austrian Bundesliga,[7] but the pair were dismissed in December 2024 with the team fifth in the league.[8]

Marítimo

On 12 June 2025, Matos was given his first job as a head coach of a senior team, on a two-year contract at Marítimo in Liga Portugal 2.[9] His release clause was set as €1 million.[10] On his debut on 10 August, he lost 1–0 at home to Lusitânia Lourosa.[11] He won six of his eleven league fixtures for the Madeiran club, taking them to third place in the table.[12]

Swansea City

On 22 November 2025, Marítimo announced that Matos would join EFL Championship club Swansea City as their new head coach after the club triggered his release clause.[12] He was announced by Swansea two days later, having signed a four-year contract.[13] On his debut on 25 November, the team lost 2–1 at home to Derby County.[14] He achieved his first win in his third game on 6 December, 2–0 against Oxford United at the Swansea.com Stadium.[15]

Managerial statistics

As of match played 26 December 2025
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team From To Record Ref.
P1 W D L Win %
Marítimo 12 June 2025 24 November 2025 12 6 2 4 050.00 [16]
Swansea City 24 November 2025 Present 7 3 0 4 042.86 [17]
Total 19 9 2 8 047.37

1 Only competitive matches are counted.

Honours

Shandong Luneng

  • U15 Chinese National Championship: 2017[2]
  • U15 SuperLeague Championship: 2017[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Pearce, James (10 December 2020). "Vitor Matos – Klopp's 'connector' who smoothes path to Liverpool's first team". The Athletic. Retrieved 21 August 2025.
  2. ^ a b c "IFCCA welcomes FC Porto's Vitor Matos as a keynote speaker". Football Queensland. 8 March 2019. Retrieved 30 November 2025.
  3. ^ "Matos contender for Swansea after Hellberg blow". BBC Sport. 17 November 2025. Retrieved 18 November 2025.
  4. ^ "Vitor Matos". Membership Magazine - Liverpool FC. Retrieved 18 November 2025.
  5. ^ a b "How Vitor Matos, the manager, was shaped by 'special' Klopp and Liverpool life". The Athletic, The New York Times. 12 November 2025. Retrieved 18 November 2025.
  6. ^ Phillips, Rob (28 May 2024). "Cardiff future in a 'good place' - Purse". BBC Sport. Retrieved 18 November 2025.
  7. ^ "OFICIAL: Vítor Matos acompanha Pep Lijnders no Salzburgo" [OFFICIAL: Vítor Matos accompanies Pep Lijnders at Salzburg] (in Portuguese). Televisão Independente. 28 May 2024. Retrieved 21 August 2025.
  8. ^ "OFICIAL: Salzburgo despede Pepijn Lijnders e Vítor Matos" [OFFICIAL: Salzburg dismis Pepijn Lijnders and Vítor Matos] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. Retrieved 21 August 2025.
  9. ^ Fernandes, João Manuel (12 June 2025). "Oficial: Vítor Matos é o novo treinador do Marítimo" [Official: Vítor Matos is the new manager of Marítimo]. Record (in Portuguese). Retrieved 21 August 2025.
  10. ^ Monteiro, Hugo Miguel (19 November 2025). "Swansea só levará Vítor Matos do Marítimo se pagar um milhão de euros" [Swansea will only take Vítor Matos from Marítimo if they pay a million euros]. O Jogo (in Portuguese). Retrieved 19 November 2025.
  11. ^ Fernandes, João Manuel (14 August 2025). "Vítor Matos nota "boa resposta" do plantel do Marítimo após derrota na estreia" [Vítor Matos notes "good response" from Marítimo squad after defeat on debut]. Record (in Portuguese). Retrieved 21 August 2025.
  12. ^ a b "Swansea to appoint Matos as Maritimo confirm move". BBC Sport. 22 November 2025. Retrieved 22 November 2025.
  13. ^ "Swansea appoint head coach Matos on four-year deal". BBC Sport. 24 November 2025. Retrieved 24 November 2025.
  14. ^ Vincent, Gareth (27 November 2025). "Swans' situation 'not as bad as it seems' - Matos". BBC Sport. Retrieved 29 November 2025.
  15. ^ "Matos looks for 'next steps' after first Swansea win". BBC Sport. 7 December 2025. Retrieved 10 December 2025.
  16. ^ "Vitor Matos profile and stats". Sofascore. Retrieved 19 November 2025.
  17. ^ "Vitor Matos". Soccerbase. Retrieved 22 December 2025.
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