Villas-Boas’ agent leaves door open for Celtic approach with comments about Scottish football

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The agent of former Tottenham and Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas has been speaking about the prospect of his client becoming the new full-time manager of Celtic.

Villas-Boas, who also won the Europa League with Porto in 2011, is still only 41 but his last managerial job was back in 2017 with Shanghai SIPG.

And the Daily Mail reported yesterday that his agent, Jean-Paul Lares categorically ruled out the prospect that he could take over from Neil Lennon; “Andre will not be working in Scotland in the foreseeable future and will not be available for comment.”

But today, Lares has spoken again and the Sun report that his client’s stance looks to have softened somewhat, saying: “Andre has the deepest affection for both Scotland and the Scottish people and the fondest memories of the time he spent there.

“But we have received no offers from Scottish clubs and no decision has been made on his future.”

The man known as AVB also had a brief dalliance with motorsports, competing in the 2018 Dakar Rally, and that makes his next move intriguing.

But it’s perhaps telling that his agent moved swiftly to modify his unequivocal comments, leaving the door open for Celtic to make the Portuguese an offer.

Celtic have a decision to make in the sense that they can go with the tried-and-tested Neil Lennon – which would prompt questions about their ambitions – or cast the net wider and try to snare a manager of a greater reputation but without experience in Scottish football.