Head coach

West Ham United appointed Nuno Espirito Santo as their latest head coach in September 2025 to replace Graham Potter. The Portuguese coach took charge at London Stadium on an initial contract until 2028.

West Ham United manager Nuno Espirito Santo’s past coaching career

The Hammers appointed Santo as their new head coach after he had spent a very brief period of time out of a job since leaving Nottingham Forest in tenuous circumstances. It is thought he had a disagreement with Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis that led to his departure.

After retiring from playing football in 2010, Santo took up a role as goalkeeper coach for Spanish outfit Malaga. He moved on from there after just four months, to take up the same role at Greek side Panathinaikos.

In July 2012, Santo bagged his first managerial role, heading back to his native Portugal to take the top job at Rio Ave. There, he oversaw 80 matches, winning 32 of them. Thanks to progress in Portuguese Cup and Portuguese League Cup, Rio Ave qualified for the Europa League for the first time.

From there, Santo caught the eye of La Liga giants Valencia. He took over there in the summer of 2014 and enjoyed a good first season in charge, beating Real Madrid and finishing fourth in the league. However, after a poor start to the 2015/16 campaign, Santo resigned in November 2015.

He had to wait a while to get his next job, but another return to his homeland beckoned as Porto gave him the manager job in the summer of 2016. Santo lasted just a season there, though. Having failed to win a trophy, he was let go by Porto chiefs at the end of the campaign.

However, he didn’t remain unemployed for long at all. In fact, Santo was given his first chance to manage in England as Wolverhampton Wanderers appointed him as head coach in May 2017. There, he would go on to really make a name for himself, working on limited resources and managing to take Wolves to the Premier League and establish themselves there.

Across 199 games with Wolves, Santo won the Championship title, accrued a 48.24% win rate, bagged a number of individual awards, and also guided the Midlands club to their best-ever top flight placing, finishing seventh in 2019/20.

He became the longest-serving Wolves head coach in the Premier League, but towards the end of the 2020/21 campaign it was announced he would be leaving the club. Santo moved onto Tottenham Hotspur, but his reign there was short-lived and bitterly disappointing.

Despite beating Man City and winning the Premier League Manager of the Month award in August, a poor run and discontent among the fanbase saw Santo dismissed in November after just four months at the club.

He spent some time away from management after that debacle, waiting until the summer of 2022 before signing on as Al-Ittihad head coach. Santo took charge of 53 games in Saudi Arabia, winning the Saudi Super Cup and securing the club’s first Saudi League title in 14 years. However, he was sacked in November 2023 after a disappointing defeat to Iraqi club Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya in the AFC Champions League.

Santo’s final stop before arriving at West Ham was a fairly successful, yet turbulent couple of years at Nottingham Forest. On the pitch, Santo achieved what was expected, and then some. Not only did he keep the club in the Premier League in his first season, he then went on to lead Forest to a seventh place finish and a return to European football for the first time in 30 years.

Off the pitch, though, things turned sour. He signed a new contract with the club in June but he was sacked by September. While results were good, it is widely believed a breakdown in relations with Evangelos Marinakis was the cause of the exit. Nuno Espirito Santo is thought to have been unhappy with the way the club operated in the transfer market over the summer.

Nuno Espirito Santo’s coaching career

• West Ham United (September 2025-present)
• Nottingham Forest (December 2023-September 2025)
• Al-Ittihad (July 2022-November 2023)
• Tottenham Hotspur (May 2021-November 2021)
• Wolves (July 2017-May 2021)
• FC Porto (July 2016-June 2017)
• Valencia (July 2014-November 2015)
• Rio Ave (July 2012-June 2014)

Nuno Espirito Santo’s best win rate came at Al-Ittihad, where he achieved 37 wins in 53 games to accrue a 69.81% win rate. His worst came at Rio Ave, with a 40% win rate from his 80 games in charge.

Nuno Espirito Santo’s playing career

The West Ham manager began his career as a goalkeeper with Vitoria Guimaraes. He made 34 appearances for the Portuguese outfit between 1992-1996, while also spending some time on loan at Vila Real.

Santo then made the permanent switch to La Liga side Deportivo La Coruna in 1997, but he would only make four appearances there. He spent most of time in Spain out on loan, with a two-season stint at Merida and one season with Osasuna.

A move back to his homeland in 2002 brought Santo to FC Porto, where he was signed by none other than Jose Mourinho. He made just 16 appearances in two years there, but he did actually score a penalty in a match Porto won 7-0.

Santo was sold to Russian side Dynamo Moscow in January 2005, where he made 11 appearances before heading back to Portugal for a brief spell with Aves. He then returned to Porto one last time as a player, but was confined to being a cup player and only made eight appearances.

He never managed to represent his country at senior level, but did feature briefly for Portugal at youth level.

Nuno Espirito Santo at West Ham United

Nuno Espirito Santo’s first game in charge of West Ham was an away trip to the Hill Dickinson Stadium to face Everton. The game ended 1-1, with the Hammers coming from behind to level the score thanks to a Jarrod Bowen goal.

West Ham players were impressed by Santo from the start, with an appreciation for his attitude and personable approach.

He joined the club in a period of unrest between fans and the board, but Nuno clearly wants to keep out of the West Ham civil war that’s going on at the moment.

The Hammers have been tipped for a tough season, but club legend Harry Redknapp believes Nuno can keep West Ham in the league.