Barnsley have announced Portuguese manager Jose Morais as their new head coach.

The 52-year-old has had a long working relationship with Jose Mourinho, first working with him at Benfica from 1999 to 2001 then being his assistant at Porto, Inter Milan, Real Madrid and Chelsea. They won the English, Italian and Spanish titles as well as the Champions League with Inter. 

He has signed an 18-month contract and replaces Paul Heckingbottom, who moved to Leeds United last week. Morais took training this morning at Oakwell before his first Reds game will be at home to Burton Albion on Tuesday. 

Morais – who speaks seven languages – has managed at various clubs around the world including spells in Portugal, Germany, Sweden, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Turkey and Greece. He spent last season at AEK Athens in the Greek Super League and his job before that was with Antalyaspor in Turkey. 

Chief executive Gauthier Ganaye said: "We're really, really pleased to have secured the club's number one target from the start of the process. We invited José to the Sheffield Wednesday match and began talks immediately with him and his representatives. To be fully transparent, we ran a fair and full interview process. We spoke to a lot of head coaches who were both in and out of employment.

"The interviewed candidates were all strong contenders, but the unanimous decision was to appoint José who instilled the full board with the belief that he is the right man to lead us up the table, whilst bringing excitement back to the club with an attacking style and goals for the fans to enjoy.

"We now look ahead to a vital part of the season under Jose's leadership. He is excited about taking training straight away and installing his own vision on the squad, which in turn has excited the club and its staff about the remainder of the campaign. We fully believe this is the right appointment at the right time, let's get behind them all on Tuesday night against Burton and look for a strong finish to the season. Come on you Reds."