Andre Villas-Boas: is he the new special one?

Twelve months ago, FC Porto's youngest ever coach was asked by suspicious Portuguese reporters to name the greatest influence on his career. "I see myself much more in the image of Bobby Robson than José Mourinho," he replied. "Like him, I've got English heritage, I've got a big nose and I like red wine."

Fast-forward a year and André Villas-Boas has a contract to manage Chelsea worth £5 million, a big reputation and the challenge of emulating The Special One at Stamford Bridge. Robson parallels might suit witty soundbites, but the 33-year-old's instant success mean the Mourinho comparisons are now un-avoidable. Indeed, by becoming Chelsea's 28th manager, he's actively encouraging them.

Welcome to London, The Special One Mk II.

For those in the capital less obsessed with football, Villas-Boas's arrival will make him the new Chelsea poster boy and provide relief from the jowly, ageing managers of the Premiership. With his washboard physique, slim-cut white shirts, designer suits and glamorous family - he is married to 30-year-old Joana Teixeira and has two young daughters, 23-month-old Benedita and Carolina, nine months - he will join London's retinue of beautiful, high-achieving people.

The Porto-born manager with a grandmother from Manchester is said to have a flourishing watch addiction to match his passion for fast cars and motorbikes. He holidays in Monaco and Dubai and drives a BMW 8 series as well as a modest Fiat 500.

Suddenly, Prince Harry's previously uncontested claim to be Britain's most fanciable ginger looks under legitimate threat.

Certainly the fans are all in favour: a scan of the CFC Net messageboard today includes messages like: "This guy was always my first choice - young, exciting, talented" and "I think this guy is smarter than Jose" even if the players on Twitter have been ominously silent.

Of course, Chelsea veterans still cashing Roman Abramovich's cheques will recall their new boss as the young fogey who first arrived here in 2004, heading up Mourinho's sinister-sounding OOD (Opposition Observation Department). Staking out rivals' training grounds to gather intelligence, the 26-year-old Villas-Boas was, on paper, merely Mourinho's assistant scout. But to quote The Special One at the time, his compatriot was "my eyes and ears".

However, it's respect that controls the Premier League's dressing rooms of premature millionaires.

Quite how Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba will react to rollickings doled out by a nerd who filed reconnaissance reports - and one their own age, remember - will prove interesting. But Luís André de Pina Cabral e Villas-Boas, to quote his full aristocratic title (he can boast a count and a baron among his relatives) is unlikely to be ruffled by any potential strops from Mr Christine Bleakley. The Premier League's youngest ever manager has navigated his way to SW6 by having a frightening work ethic and, as this early tale shows, more front than Blackpool pier.

"When Bobby Robson came to Porto to be a coach in 1994," Villas-Boas recalled, "he moved to my building. I was a small boy but because I was so interested in football I went to his flat to try and meet him."

This first attempt failed, but by the time he was 16 he was writing to Robson detailing his grievances with the manager's treatment of star striker Domingos Paciência. Impressed by his young neighbour's arguments, Robson challenged him to back up his case with statistics from Porto's next home games. The meticulous files returned to Robson won Villas-Boas a trainee role on Porto's youth team coaching staff and, more importantly, Robson's personal tutelage.

"He liked my passion, so helped me to enrol at Lilleshall to take my FA coaching qualification," Villas-Boas said. "I started young, at 17. I shouldn't really have been there because minors aren't supposed to take the qualifications. But Bobby smoothed the way"