César Peixoto’s journey from Portuguese football to the Wolves hot seat

César Peixoto has taken an interesting route in football so far, going from playing to transitioning to management.

The Portuguese man worked his way up through the leagues in both instances. After ending his playing career, the former Porto player moved into management in 2019, taking his first senior job at Varzim. 

Since then he has managed several clubs in Portugal, learning from different challenges and building a reputation for himself.

Now at Wolves, Peixoto has reached the biggest stage of his managerial career, writes Sports News Blitz’s Will Jones.

Varzim

Peixoto began his senior coaching career at Varzim in 2019 shortly after moving into management.

The club were in the Portuguese second tier at the time, fighting against relegation with nine league matches remaining.

It wasn’t a well-sought job, and many thought he was crazy for taking it at the time. 

He stabilised them though, collecting 14 points from those final nine games, winning four games, drawing two and losing three. This return was enough to keep them in the division.

Académica and then Chaves 

Next up for him was Académica - another Portuguese club with a strong footballing history. This was where he faced the first setback of his career, but it allowed him to continue developing as a young coach. 

Moving between clubs so early in his career meant Peixoto was exposed to different squads, expectations and challenges, giving him a good grounding in what was required to succeed in Portuguese professional football. 

Picking up just nine points in his first ten games of his second season as a manager, he left the club.

A move to Chaves came about shortly thereafter. Peixoto took over at Chaves in December 2019, with the club sitting eighth in the second tier.

He managed 12 matches before the season ended, winning three, drawing four and losing five.

Chaves finished the season ninth, giving Peixoto another valuable spell of experience in Portuguese football as he was starting to gain a reputation as a manager who wasn’t afraid of taking on difficult jobs.

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Moreirense 

His first opportunity to manage in the Primeira Liga came almost a year after leaving Chaves.

It was a big step for a relatively inexperienced coach like Peixoto, and one that carried plenty of pressure. However, his spell there was short-lived, lasting just 53 days before he resigned.

Peixoto attributed his decision to leave the club to disagreements behind the scenes over his footballing vision, the squad and recruitment strategy.

Paços de Ferreira 

Nearly a year later, he was back in management. Peixoto’s next major opportunity came at Paços de Ferreira in 2021.

Once again, he was managing in the Primeira Liga, and again it was a side struggling near the bottom of the table.

He helped guide them away from immediate danger, with Paços eventually finishing 11th.

When he came into the role, they hadn’t won a game in nearly four months, so to turn it around the way he did was widely regarded as an impressive turnaround. 

His work earned him another chance to continue at the club, although the following season proved much more difficult.

During the summer window, nine first-team players left the club, and the club struggled to find adequate replacements.

He was eventually dismissed in October 2022, giving him another setback to learn from.

In January 2023, Peixoto was asked to return to Paços de Ferreira for a second spell. The situation was much more difficult this time, with the club fighting to avoid relegation. 

His first instinct was to reject the offer - then the players began calling him.

Members of the squad personally asked Peixoto to come back. They trusted him, valued their relationship with him and believed he could improve the situation, so he agreed to take up the role again.

Despite his previous experience with the team, Peixoto could not produce the turnaround required.

Paços struggled for results and ultimately suffered relegation from the Primeira Liga.

Although it was another difficult chapter in his career, it also showed Peixoto’s willingness to take on challenging situations.

The experience would become another part of the journey that eventually led him to a breakthrough opportunity.

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His return to Moreirense 

Peixoto returned to Moreirense in 2024, almost four years after his first spell at the club.

By then, he had gained more experience managing in Portugal’s top division and had worked at several different clubs.

His return gave him an opportunity to show how much he had developed as a coach since his first spell. However, things once again did not work out for long.

Peixoto left the club in February 2025 following a difficult period of results, meaning his second spell ended earlier than he would have wanted. 

Gil Vicente

Gil Vicente proved to be the turning point in Peixoto’s managerial career.

He took charge in 2025 and finally found the consistency and results that had sometimes been missing from his previous jobs.

Under Peixoto, Gil Vicente developed into a competitive Primeira Liga side and finished sixth in the 2025/26 season.

That achievement significantly raised his profile and showed that he could build a successful team at the highest level in Portugal.

After years of short spells, setbacks and difficult challenges, his success at Gil Vicente ultimately earned him the opportunity to become Wolves' head coach. 

Peixoto’s journey to Wolves has been far from straightforward. From helping Varzim survive relegation to suffering setbacks at Académica, Moreirense and Paços de Ferreira, he has experienced both sides of management.

His success at Gil Vicente finally gave him the platform to take the next step in his career.

Now, at Wolves, Peixoto has the chance to show that the lessons learned over the last seven years have prepared him for the biggest challenge of his career: getting Wolves back into the Premier League.

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