Earlier on this week, Brazilian champions Flamengo made the shock decision to part ways with manager Filipe Luis, hours after an 8-0 win against Madureira in the Carioca Serie A semi-finals.
During his 16 or so months in charge, Luis swept up seven trophies, including the Brasileiro league title and the Copa Libertadores. He also made them very competitive against the best European teams at the Club World Cup.
All of which came with a very attractive style of play, allowing creative players freedom to do their own thing with a very fluid offensive style with lots of rotations.
So, why have Flamengo decided to part ways with Luis?
It has been reported that the 40-year old – whilst in contract extension negotiations with his Brazilian employers – had been speaking to BlueCo, the consortium that own Chelsea.
Ultimately though, they also own Strasbourg. And whilst Luis thought he was speaking with his former team in Chelsea, it was actually with a view to managing the Ligue 1 side. From there, he immediately turned his focus back to Flamengo.
However, he had already burned his bridges by then, and the relationship was beyond repair. Whilst not a terrible start to the 2026 season, the so and so first few games were enough excuse for the Rio side to part ways with him.
Nevertheless, there is no doubt that Luis will go somewhere successful, most likely in Europe. He has done all he can in Brazil and South America, the next step in his development would be a job in Europe.
In the past, he has mentioned his goal to at some point coach in Europe. The majority of his playing career was spent there, and many said he was using a European style of play at Flamengo.
The obvious suggestion would be Atletico Madrid, whom he played for seven out of eight years between 2011 and 2019, winning La Liga, the Copa Del Rey, Europa League and European Supercup during his time in the Spanish capital.
However, despite some talk that Diego Simeone has taken the club as far as he can, he is still in his post for now. So, where could we see Luis go?
Some may suggest Liga NOS, in Portugal. The same language, a similar standard to Brazilian football, and so on. But, it feels like he is probably good enough to coach in the top five leagues.
Despite only spending one year in England, Luis speaks very good English, so a move to the Premier League is possible. As he brutally found out, a move to Chelsea is not possible – so where else could he go?
If, and it is actually becoming quite a big if at this stage, Spurs could be a possibility. Should they survive, it feels like quite a sweet spot for an upcoming manager.
You get to manage in a wonderful, shiny stadium, in front of 60k fans. You will be paid handsomely and get a solid transfer kitty. Yet, the job would not be above him, as Spurs are far from challenging at the top end of the league.
There is little to no expectations at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium right now. He would be tasked with trying to reunite the fanbase, and make them enjoy going to games.
Fans often talk about “the Tottenham way”, having an attractive style of play. Like Harry Redknapp did, like Mauricio Pochettino did, like Ange Postecoglou initially did.
There is no doubt you would get that with Luis. They would enjoy his expansive style of play. He has already shown he can do it against European sides. His Flamengo team were the only side to beat Chelsea at the Club World Cup.
At 40-years old, he can only continue to improve as a manager too. It’s very rare to have a manager who has already coached 100 games. So you have someone already fairly experienced, yet with so much room to continue growing and developing.
Brighton and Hove Albion have failed to kick on under Fabian Hurzeler this season, winning just three of their last 16 games. Luis feels like the exact sort of forward thinking appointment that Tony Bloom would make.
They appointed a then 31-year old Hurzeler back in 2024, so there is no way that they’d find appointing Luis too risky. That would be a very interesting and exciting appointment.
On the continent, we could see him back in La Liga, a league he knows so well, even if it is not at Atletico. Perhaps the task of bringing the good times back to Sevilla would be of interest to him. Maybe a move back to Madrid to coach Rayo Vallecano would be another exciting option.
The last Brazilian manager to make his mark in Europe was probably Luis Scolari, and even he had, let’s say, varying success. It is very rare for Brazilian coaches to make the move outside of Brazil (or at least out of South America).
