Andre Villas-Boas rules out Premier League return
Wednesday 6 May 2020 11:37, UK
Andre Villas-Boas has dismissed the prospect of a managerial return to the Premier League and claimed he would rather take a role in Japan instead.
The former Chelsea and Tottenham boss has led Marseille to Champions League qualification for the first time in seven years after the Ligue 1 season was ended with 10 games left amid the coronavirus crisis.
Villas-Boas endured frustrating spells in the Premier League and the Portuguese, who has since gone on to manage Zenit Saint Petersburg and Shanghai SIPG, is not looking for another opportunity to prove himself in England.
Amid reports linking the 42-year-old with a move to manage Newcastle, he told RMC Sport: "I feel very good at Marseille. I don't want to look for other clubs.
"When my agent calls me with Premier League proposals, I don't want to go back. I am happy here. I want to manage in the Champions League with Marseille.
"But if the conditions for us to do a proper job are not met, it's not worth it [to stay]. These are normal assurances a manager wants."
Villas-Boas said in January he was more likely to be seen at the Dakar Rally, having competed in the race in 2018, and holds a desire to return to Asia as a manager.
"I have already said in a press conference that you are more likely to find me at the Dakar Rally than back in the Premier League or anywhere else,' he added.
"I have some ambitions which are without geographical limits, I would like to manage in Japan, I wish to discover the Japanese culture and Japanese football."
The 42-year-old, who won the Europa League with Porto in 2011, will meet with the club hierarchy next week to discuss plans for the future and is happy in Ligue 1 but only if the club will back him in the transfer market this summer.
"It's important that we, alongside the sporting director [Andoni Zubizarreta], have the opportunity to have a transfer window of quality transfers, under not the best conditions, but that will allow us to be competitive," he said.
"We are not naive enough to forget the economic situation of the club."
Marseille fell foul of UEFA's financial fair-play rules last year and in March the club was at risk of sanctions after failing to comply with a settlement.
