Cesar Peixoto gives his first interview on becoming the new head coach of Wolves, coming in to replace the sacked Rob Edwards.
Peixoto guided Gil Vicente to a 6th-place finish in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football, for the 2025/26 season.
He is arrived at Wolves’ training ground last week to finalise his move to take over from Edwards, who reportedly found out of his departure after members of his family saw rumours of Peixoto’s appointment on social media and Edwards called the club to ask about the rumours. More on that HERE.
We have appointed Cesar Peixoto as our new head coach 🤝 pic.twitter.com/5mP7QZi2HC
— Wolves (@Wolves) June 15, 2026
CLUB STATEMENT:
Wolves have confirmed the appointment of Cesar Peixoto as the club’s new head coach.
The 46-year-old Portuguese joins the club on a two-year contract, subject to work permit.
Peixoto arrives at Molineux having earned a strong reputation within Portuguese football, most recently leading Gil Vicente to sixth in the Primeira Liga.
A former Portugal international, Peixoto enjoyed a distinguished playing career spanning more than two decades, winning domestic honours in Portugal and forming part of Jose Mourinho’s UEFA Champions League-winning FC Porto squad before moving into coaching.
Executive chairman Nathan Shi said: “We are delighted to welcome Cesar to Wolves.
“Throughout our discussions with him, it became clear very quickly that he possesses many of the qualities we believe are important for the future of this football club.
“We wanted clear identity, strong leadership qualities and a real hunger to succeed. Cesar demonstrated all of those characteristics, but what impressed me most was his mentality, his work ethic and his willingness to embrace the challenge in front of him.
“He is young, energetic and ambitious, but he is also thoughtful, accountable and willing to challenge himself and those around him in pursuit of improvement.
“We believe he will be an excellent fit for the culture and vision we are building at Wolves.”
Peixoto added: “I’m proud to be here at this big, historic club in England. It’s a big opportunity for me and I’m prepared to do everything to put Wolves where it belongs in the Premier League.
“We have great players, but I think the team can improve a lot with me and I can improve as a technical head coach. I want to put my identity onto the team, build a strong identity at the club and also help the team to grow by showing my identity and my way of playing.
“This is an amazing club, and it is important for me to make Wolves play in a way which reflects the fans. It’s a hard-working city with a lot of energy and a lot of passion, and I want them to see a team which plays an offensive game, with good organisation and a team who play for the fans.
“I want the supporters to be proud of our players, be proud of the way we play and the way we fight game after game to bring the victory, and to achieve the main aim, which is to put Wolves back in the Premier League.”
He said on becoming Wolves’ new head coach, as per the club website:
“It feels really good for me. I’m proud to be here at this big, historic club in England. It’s a big opportunity and I’m prepared to do everything to put Wolves where it belongs in the Premier League.
“We have great players, but I think the team can improve a lot with me and I can improve as a technical head coach. I want to put my identity onto the team, build a strong identity at the club and also help the team to grow. This is a big opportunity to show my identity and my way of playing.
“This is an amazing club, and it is important for me to make Wolves play in a way which reflects the fans. It’s a hard-working city with a lot of energy and a lot of passion and I want the team to play like that, to play with passion, to play with good energy, and make the fans happy with our idea of the game.”
On preparing for the Championship:
“The right vision is important. Wolves in the Championship is a big fish, and we know we have to play well, we know we have to win games, but with an offensive identity with the ball and a fresh eye over the team, this is the kind of vision I have. The owners also have this vision, so it is important for us, for me and for the club, to build a big team, play well for the fans, produce attractive football and put Wolves in the Premier League.
“But the key is pre-season. It is important because of how tough the Championship is. We have a lot of games and if you do a good pre-season, in terms of physicality, in terms of putting my ideas of the game inside the players, then after that we can attack the season in the best way.
“You don’t have time to work a lot from game-to-game and it becomes difficult, so during pre-season I want to build a strong identity and bring quality players with character into the team who can cope with that pressure until the end.
“It’s important we work as a unit in the club, not only for me, but for the players, all the staff and all the people inside the club to work together as a unit. This is how you can be good throughout the season, not just for one or two games, but the whole season, because it is a tough season. We need all the people helping us to bring good results to Wolves.”
On his style of play:
“Firstly, I’m a very demanding coach, but I believe in giving my players the maximum freedom and maximum responsibility. I know very well what I want for the team. I want a team that is organised with the ball and without the ball, I want a team with intensity, being aggressive, wining duels and I want to increase the quality of the players, the quality of the game, play an offensive game, try to press high and try to be the main character of the game.
“I think the squad has talent, it has a lot of quality, but I think the players have a lot to improve with the way I work and my idea of the game. The players have a lot of qualities and more quality than they showed in the last season.
“I’ve looked at the squad and I want to adapt them to my idea of the game, my structure, but we have quality. If we bring some quality players in, I think we can build a great team, but I want to build a great team to fight for promotion to the Premier League.”
On learning from his previous coaches:
“I learned a little from all the coaches that I’ve had. Jose Mourinho is an important coach for me, and he was my coach when I was in Porto, and Jorge Jesus also is the coach who I learned more from because he’s more offensive, more aggressive in the games, but I learned a lot of little things from all the coaches I have had in my career.
“But I have to put my idea and what I believe into the game, put that onto the pitch and put that in my team, in my players, because my identity is the most important thing for me.
“After that, we work hard, work on the pitch, in the training session, so when we come to the games, we can start in a good moment and win games.”
On fans having pride in their team:
“Fans will see a team with ambition, with strong character, a strong identity of the club, and a strong idea of the game. They will see a team who never gives up on trying to win the three points and I want to make the fans proud of these players.
“I want the Wolves supporters to like the way Wolves play next season. I want to win games, but playing an offensive game, with good energy, with good organisation, and playing for the fans.
“At the end of the games, I want the supporters to be proud of our players, be proud of the way we play and the way we fight game all game to bring the victory, and to achieve the main aim, which is to put Wolves back in the Premier League.”
Here’s how fans reacted after Cesar Peixoto gives his first interview on becoming the new Wolves head coach…
@StuArtDesign_: Straight to the point, passionate, aggressive, attractive football. Sign me up! #wwfc
@Wolfy1994: No idea of who he is, but let’s hope this is the start of Nuno 2.0 🙌
@dinglette1972: Not gonna lie I still feel uneasy about this but this is now our gaffer. I wish you a warm welcome Cesar 🐺🧡🖤🇵🇹
@jamiewalters23:
🎶 Que Cesar, Cesar,
What ever will be will be,
We’re going to win the League,
Que Cesar, Cesar. 🎶
@DannyRosamond: Welcome César. Please be more Nuno than Walter Zenga. Much obliged.
@daveazzopardi: I am invested Mr Peixoto
@jay_wwfc07: He comes across well tbf to him, you can very clearly tell he knows what he wants, surprised at how good his English is too. Let’s just get behind him and who knows how far we can go.
@OldWolfie75: Let’s get behind Cesar and hope he brings success……for @Fosun_Intl’s sake. #wwfc
@wolvesshirts: Hail César! 🏛️ The Portuguese joins us from Primeira Liga side Gil Vicente 🇵🇹 A lively summer so far for Wolves and the transfer window hasn’t even opened yet 🤯 Let’s get behind him 💪 UTW #cesarpeixoto #peixoto #wolves #wwfc #wolverhamptonwanderers
@VFL_Fabinho3: Either gonna be nuno or zenga, just can’t tell which one.
@pedalsingh: Welcome to the club 🐺 Don’t know much about him but let’s see what he can do! 🧡
@SouthBankMatt: Hopefully we come back to these comments in years to come with you being a great appointment!
@Cookmtt1976: All hail Cesar!!! So this will be his 9th job in 6 years and his best finish is 6th in the Portuguese League, I appreciate the team that was with deserves some plaudits. I will back him and hope he does well but I am very concerned with how this will play out. #wwfc
