Villas-Boas set to retire in ‘two or three seasons’

Robin Bairner

• Updated: 19 May 2021 15:43 BST
• 2 min read

Andre Villas-Boas, the head coach of Marseille, is already planning his retirement, according to agent Carlos Goncalves.

The 43-year-old came into coaching early with Academica in Portugal before graduating to the likes of Porto, Chelsea and Tottenham in what has been a globe-trotting career.

He has been with Marseille since 2019 and has enjoyed significant success in the year he has spent with the Ligue 1 side. He notably led them to a second-place finish in France last season, allowing them to return to the Champions League after a seven-year wait.

• Free Agents: Messi, Aguero, and players out of contract in 2021
• Bayern Munich’s Alphonso Davies the world’s most valuable youngster
• Isco: Everton target’s recent statistics
• Carlo Ancelotti responds to Isco speculation: He is a fantastic player
• Lautaro Martinez’s agent: No contact with Inter over new deal

Marseille, though, may be Villas-Boas’ final club as his representative has confirmed that the coach is planning on an early retirement from the game.

“I think he’ll do another two or maybe three seasons as a coach and from then on he will stop,” Goncalves told Telefoot. “That’s always been his plan.

“Will Marseille be his final club? We’ll see.”

Villas-Boas nearly left Marseille in the summer following a dispute with the board and has yet to commit his future to the Provence side.

Indeed, he intends only to think about the future in early 2021.

“The January transfer window will be over and we can position ourselves towards the future,” he explained in mid-October. “The most important thing is that I feel good here. I’ve got emotionally attached to this club, to its history, the players who have been here and the impact OM have had on Europe. It’s magnificent.”

Villas-Boas’ globe-trotting career

Villas-Boas was dubbed the next Jose Mourinho when he broke onto the scene, having arrived via an unconventional route. He also enjoyed success in a spell with Porto, leading them to the 2010-11 Europa League as well as a domestic double, before moving to Chelsea and, swiftly, Tottenham.

His career failed to ignite in England, however, and in 2014 he went to Zenit St Petersburg, where he stayed for two years, winning the Russian Premier League in 2015, before switching to Shanghai SIPG in the Chinese Super League.

When his contract expired in 2017, he departed the club and took up a career in motorsport, notably driving the 2018 Dakar Rally.

He returned to professional football in 2019 with Marseille, with whom he is under contract until June 2021.