CHELSEA'S record-breaking new manager Andre Villas-Boas is football's hottest property.
Aged just 33 he became the most expensive manager of ALL TIME this week when the super-rich West London club spent an incredible �13.25million to buy out his contract with Portuguese side FC Porto.
Yet despite coming from a wealthy family with aristocratic roots, Villas-Boas is a down-to-earth family man who rarely speaks about his domestic life.
But the smartly dressed Portuguese - whose Continental good looks are set to quicken the pulses of female fans at Stamford Bridge - does love to talk about his ENGLISH background. Villas-Boas once told journalists: "I have a big nose, I have red hair and I love wine. So I have a lot of English roots."
Andre's grandmother, Margaret Kendall, moved to Portugal from Cheadle in Greater Manchester to set up a wine-growing business just after the turn of the 20th Century. Her brother Douglas Kendall was a Second World War hero who flew as a wing commander in the RAF.
Villas-Boas has never courted the limelight. When his youngest daughter was born in October last year he changed cars several times in order to fool photographers.
Perhaps it is not surprising that he wants to protect his family - after it was revealed on Tuesday that he was quitting Porto, fans gathered to demonstrate outside his apartment and he had to hire seven bodyguards for protection.
Vitor Pinto, a local journalist who has interviewed Villas-Boas, said: "He is very discreet and doesn't like to talk about his personal life." His only "flashy" hobby outside of football is following Formula One - he has gone to Monaco and Dubai on holiday so that he could see their Grand Prix races.
But rather than sports cars, Villas-Boas drives a modest Fiat 500 as well as a BMW 8 Series. He met his wife Joana, 30, when he was young and they have two children, daughters Benedita, one, and Carolina, eight months.
Joana does not work and, like her husband, comes from a wealthy family. Andre's great-grandfather Josďż˝ Villas-Boas was the first viscount of Guilhomil.
But friends say Villas-Boas is a normal, friendly guy who prefers to be called just Andre rather than by his full aristocratic title, Luis Andre de Pina Cabral e Villas-Boas.
It was an English football legend who first spotted Villas-Boas' s potential to be a big name in the game.
Ex-England boss Sir Bobby Robson knew when he first met the then 16-year-old Villas-Boas in 1994 that he was a major talent, The Sun can reveal.
Sir Bobby gave Villas-Boas his first big break when he was in charge of Porto between 1994 and 1996 - employing him as a scout after the precocious youngster wrote to him offering advice on the team.
The earnest teenager put a note under the door of Sir Bobby's flat when the pair lived in the same apartment block in Porto's wealthy Foz district.Incredibly, Villas-Boas had the audacity to give HIM advice on altering his team selection.
Speaking exclusively to The Sun, Augusto Inacio, 56 - Sir Bobby's deputy at FC Porto at the time - said: "Sir Bobby told me from the start that he knew that Villas-Boas would be a great coach one day. He told me, 'I know a young boy. He speaks very well about football'. They were neighbours when they met. It was unusual because Andre was very young."
Other busy men might have shunned the fearless youngster.
Instead Sir Bobby asked him to prove his worth and Villas-Boas drew up a detailed team dossier.
Impressed by the lad's passion for the game and his fluent English, Robson bent the rules to arrange some coaching courses for Villas-Boas.
Fast forward to last month and at the age of just 33 Andre became the youngest manager EVER to win a European title - lifting the Uefa Europa League cup in his first year in charge of the team he had supported since childhood.After lifting the trophy he gave special thanks for Sir Bobby, who died in 2009 and also influenced the likes of Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola. He said: "I never had the opportunity to say farewell to him. I'd like to dedicate this to him and his wife Elsie, and thank him for everything he's done for me.
"Bobby allowed a 16-year-old to approach him and talk about football tactics with him.
"Then he took me to training, watching training sessions.
"He had that respect for a young boy who had just approached him in an apartment block in Porto."
Sir Bobby's widow, Lady Elsie, well remembers the polite young lad and yesterday wished him well in his new role - in which he is again following in the footsteps of another Sir Bobby protege.Working for Robson at the same time at Porto was self-styled "Special One" Jose Mourinho, who was then third in the club's pecking order. After Robson's move from Porto to Barcelona in 1996, Villas-Boas went on to forge a career in scouting before Mourinho became Porto boss.
He then followed Mourinho to Chelsea and to Inter Milan as a scout before taking the helm himself at Porto.
Yet while his appointment as Chelsea manager yesterday by owner Roman Abramovich capped a meteoric rise, the position will be a huge challenge for Villas-Boas who is still a relatively inexperienced manager.And his approach is likely to be very different to that of headline-grabbing Mourinho when he took charge of the side in 2004.
Villas-Boas is said to have fallen out with Mourinho, who himself has two European Champions League titles to his name with Porto and Inter Milan.
The former Chelsea hero has not spoken to Villas-Boas since he took charge of Porto a year ago and the pair are reportedly no longer friends.
One Portuguese sports insider said: "No one knows why they have drifted apart. But Mourinho is well known for falling out with people." What the pair do still have in common - and what their great mentor Sir Bobby also had - is a total commitment to the game they have dedicated their lives to.
Inacio added: "I think that Villas-Boas has a bit of Bobby Robson's style and a bit of Mourinho's style.
"The organisation of training and the way he speaks with players is like Robson."
He thinks that Villas-Boas will do well at Stamford Bridge if given the full backing of the fans and the club's Russian owner.
Inacio said: "If there is a good atmosphere at Chelsea he can be great."
Whether Villas-Boas can emulate the success of either Sir Bobby or Mourinho in top-flight English football remains to be seen...
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His amazing record
VILLAS-BOAS was named as Porto manager on June 2 last year.
On August 7 he won his first trophy when his side beat Benfica 2-0 in the Portuguese Supercup. By the end of the season he had added the Portuguese Primeira Liga, UEFA Europa League and Portuguese Cup titles.
In his first season he:
Became youngest manager to win a European competition - aged 33 years, 213 days.
Smashed club record for unbeaten run across all competitions - 36.
Recorded most wins in Europe in one season by a Portuguese club - 14.
Notched highest number of consecutive wins in Portuguese league - 16.
Guided Porto to the Portuguese league title without being beaten, emulating the great Benfica team of 1972/73.
Source: thesun.co.uk
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