Daniel Sousa

Pedro Daniel da Cunha Pereira de Sousa (born 3 October 1984) is a Portuguese football manager who is the current head coach of Primeira Liga club Arouca.

After working as a long-term assistant manager to André Villas-Boas, he started managing in his own right in the Primeira Liga in 2022.

Assistant

Sousa first met the Portuguese coach André Villas-Boas when the former was a student at the University of Porto, in the Faculty of Sports. He interviewed Villas-Boas about strategies for attacking football as part of his final-year thesis, and was later recommended to the young manager by professor of football José Guilherme, who was Villas-Boas' assistant at Académica. Sousa was Villas-Boas' match analyst at Académica, Porto, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, and Zenit Saint Petersburg, and assistant manager at Zenit Shanghai Port and Marseille spanning 10 years of service.

Gil Vicente

On 16 November 2022, Sousa was named in his first managerial job, at his hometown club Gil Vicente FC. He replaced Ivo Vieira at the 16th-placed team. His debut four days later was a 2–2 draw at S.C. Covilhã in the Taça da Liga group stage; by winning the two other games they made the quarter-finals and lost 2–0 to eventual winners Porto.

Sousa's first Primeira Liga game was a 1–0 home win over C.D. Santa Clara on 29 December 2022. The following 26 February, he won 2–1 away to Porto, one of only three losses over the season for the opponents and of two at the Estádio do Dragão. After a 13th-placed finish, he left on 26 June 2023 as the club president wanted a different manager.

Arouca

On 15 November 2023, following the sacking of Daniel Ramos, Sousa was appointed manager of Arouca, who sat last place in the Primeira Liga table, signing a contract until the end of the 2023–24 season.

As of 12 February 2024