Vitor Pereira has agreed a deal to become Nottingham Forest’s fourth manager of the season.
The former Wolves boss was identified as the first choice to replace Sean Dyche, who was sacked following Wednesday’s goalless Premier League draw with the Molineux club.
Talks progressed swiftly and the two parties have agreed a contract, the Press Association understands.
The deal, pending the relevant paperwork, could be announced soon.
Pereira had been out of work since leaving Wolves in November after a disastrous start to the campaign.
But he kept them up the season before after taking over from Gary O’Neil and he has worked under Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis at Olympiacos.
Unless there are any unexpected late hitches, the Portuguese will be in charge for next week’s Europe League play-off first leg at Fenerbahce.
But his first brief will be to keep Forest in the Premier League as they sit three points above the relegation zone with 12 games to go.
Forest had 35 shots on goal against Wolves but could not find a way through against the basement club and the home fans roundly booed Dyche at the full-time whistle.
Marinakis was at the game and, after holding counsel with other members of the club’s hierarchy and senior players, he sacked Dyche in a belief that would give his club the best chance of staying in the English top flight.
The 54-year-old was in charge for 114 days and follows Nuno Espirito Santo and Ange Postecoglou out of the door in a tumultuous season at the City Ground.
Dyche left on the back of a run of just two wins from the last 10 league games, and taking two points from matches against Crystal Palace, Leeds and Wolves proved fatal.
It was supposed to be a memorable season for Forest after Nuno guided them to their first European qualification in 20 years.
He signed a new three-year Reds deal in June 2025, but was sacked in September following a breakdown in his relationship with Marinakis and sporting director Edu.
Former Tottenham boss Postecoglou was swiftly brought in as the Portuguese’s replacement, but lasted only 40 days in the job, with Marinakis wielding the axe again within minutes of a 3-0 defeat by Chelsea.
Nottingham Forest Football Club can confirm that Sean Dyche has been relieved of his duties as head coach.
We would like to thank Sean and his staff for their efforts during their time at the Club and we wish them the best of luck for the future. We will be making no further… pic.twitter.com/q6LPADIsDw
— Nottingham Forest (@NFFC) February 12, 2026
Dyche, who lives in Nottingham and was a trainee at the club, became the club’s third first-team boss of the season on October 21 and was joined in the dugout by former Forest heroes Ian Woan and Steve Stone.
They beat Porto in his first game in charge and looked to have turned a corner after a 3-0 win at Premier League champions Liverpool a month later.
But form has been inconsistent and there were internal concerns since they lost to Sky Bet Championship side Wrexham in the FA Cup in January.
