On paper, West Ham United ending uncertainty surrounding their managerial position while stepping up their pursuit of a new director of football/technical director feels like a good thing.
And, quite possibly, it is exactly that.
Nuno Espirito Santo is staying at the London Stadium. Some clarity regarding the immediate future of their head coach should, in theory, allow West Ham United to start planning for next season much quicker and with much more conviction.
How important is it that West Ham hire a Director of Football? 💰 🖋️
Middlesbrough's Kieran Scott has been linked…
Furthermore, according to talkSPORT, West Ham are pursuing Middlesbrough chief Kieran Scott as they look to fill a void created by the departure of former head of recruitment Kyle Macaulay.
While his track record at the Riverside is far from perfect, signing England international-turned-Europa League winner Morgan Rogers for just £1 million epitomises Scott’s eye for a bargain.
West Ham United could partner Nuno Espirito Santo with Kieran Scott
The Hammers have long been criticised – both inside and outside of the club – for what many feel is an antiquated approach to recruitment.
Too many ageing, high-earning signings, too much power wielded by David Sullivan. Hiring Scott would potentially speed up a transition towards a more modern, youth-focused transfer policy.
Yet, this would not be an appointment completely devoid of risk.
Nuno Espirito Santo and Edu Gaspar suffered a spectacular falling out at Nottingham Forest prior to the manager’s departure last summer. Edu seized a great deal of control over Forest’s recruitment strategy following his appointment in July 2025.
Something Nuno clearly did not appreciate.
“I always had a very good relationship with the owner [Evangelos Marinakis]. Last season we were very close and spoke on a daily basis. This season [thanks to the arrival of Edu, our relationship] is not so well,” Nuno said at the time.
“Our relationship has changed and we are not as close. Everybody at the club should be together, but this is not the reality.”
Now, Hammers News can confirm, when finalising his three-year deal in September, that West Ham agreed to hand Nuno a major say over ins and outs, along with agent Jorge Mendes. Macaulay was binned, and the influence of Will Salthouse appeared to be curbed.
Pablo Felipe, the disastrous £18 million signing from Gil Vicente, was a Mendes client, brought in from Nuno’s homeland. Adama Traore thrived under Nuno at Wolves.
Considering that neither player managed a single goal following their January arrivals – Traore didn’t even start a league match – suggestions that Kieran Scott could arrive to handle recruitment would probably make his appointment a fairly popular one among many supporters.
But you only need look back at how his Nottingham Forest career unravelled to realise that, when Nuno’s authority over recruitment is questioned, things can quickly turn sour.
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Could Nuno’s Hammers career end like his Nottingham Forest’s spell
Nuno won the Championship with Wolves in 2018 thanks in part to a series of Mendes-driven signings. When securing Champions League qualification with Valencia over a decade ago, Mendes played a major role in the arrivals of Nicolas Otamendi, Andre Gomes, Joao Cancelo, Enzo Perez and Rodrigo Moreno.
Who knows, perhaps that old partnership could work wonders again at West Ham.
Yet, with West Ham pursuing a director of football and Nuno likely to lose some influence in the recruitment department, one has to wonder if things will fall apart at the London Stadium like they did at the City Ground.
“The problem; let’s say that a sporting director comes in and Nuno doesn’t like him,” former Aston Villa CEO Christian Purslow says on the Football Boardroom podcast.
“What happens next?”
We probably already know the answer.
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