Luís Manuel Ferreira de Castro

Luís Manuel Ferreira de Castro (born 7 May 1980) is a Portuguese football manager, who is the head coach of La Liga club Levante.

Career Early career Castro was born in Moreira de Cónegos, Braga District, and began his managerial career with the under-10 squad at Vizela. In 2005, he was invited by Moreirense to be their youth coordinator and manager of the under-19 squad.

In 2009, after a year in charge of the under-14s of the Braga Football Association, Castro returned to Vizela. In 2011, he moved abroad and took over the under-15 team of Saudi club Al Nassr.

Castro returned to his home country in 2012, after being named manager of Vitória de Guimarães' under-15 squad. He then took over the under-19s and worked as a youth coordinator before moving to Hungary in July 2016, with Debreceni VSC.

In 2017, Castro returned to Vitória de Guimarães under the same role, and was also in charge of the under-23s in the 2018–19 season.

Panetolikos On 30 May 2019, Castro was named manager of Super League Greece side Panetolikos. On 11 October, he was sacked by the club.

Benfica Castro joined Benfica on 27 November 2019, after being named manager of the under-23s. On 2 June 2022, after leading the under-19s to the UEFA Youth League title, he took over the B-team, before winning the Under-20 Intercontinental Cup with under-20s. In 2022–23, he led Benfica B to a 15th place in Liga Portugal 2, close to relegation.

Dunkerque On 26 September 2023, Castro was named new manager of Ligue 2 club Dunkerque. During the 2024–25 season, he led the side to a play-off position (being knocked out in the semifinals), and also reached the Coupe de France semifinals (being knocked out by eventual champions Paris Saint-Germain).

Nantes On 11 June 2025, Castro was appointed manager of Ligue 1 club Nantes. He was fired in December.

Levante On 20 December 2025, Castro was appointed as manager of La Liga club Levante.

Managerial statistics

Honours Benfica Campeonato Nacional de Juniores: 2021–22 UEFA Youth League: 2021–22 Under-20 Intercontinental Cup: 2022