Craig Bellamy was heavily linked with a return to West Ham as manager before Nuno Espirito Santo committed to the club despite relegation – now the ex firebrand striker could give him a new worry and Will Salthouse is involved.
Nuno Espirito Santo was widely expected to leave the Hammers when they suffered relegation to the Championship.
Some fans felt Nuno could and should have done more to keep West Ham up given he had 33 games to do so.
Others felt the Portuguese proved he was the right man with West Ham’s performances and results in the second half of the season, in which they were statistically the sixth best team in the top flight.
Bellamy to give Nuno a major worry after West Ham links
The likes of former Hammers Craig Bellamy, Scott Parker, Slaven Bilic and Gary O’Neil were all heavily linked with the job.
The links to Bellamy captured the imagination of many Hammers fans, who loved him and his attitude as a player for the club.
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Bellamy has also impressed West Ham fans in his roles within management so far, including as boss of Wales.
Bellamy responded to the West Ham links when Wales played friendlies earlier this month, suggesting he wanted to see out the last two years of his contract before taking a club job.
Now Bellamy could give Nuno a major worry with a big U-turn after those West Ham links.
Because the highly-rated young manager is now considering leaving the Wales job to take over at West Ham’s Championship promotion rivals Burnley.
The Hammers and Nuno have made it clear they expect automatic promotion back to the Premier League at the first time of asking.
West Ham have had to rely on winning the play-offs on the two previous occasions they have been relegated from the Premier League.
Salthouse involved as Bellamy makes U-turn on Burnley job
With parachute payments providing a big advantage to West Ham, Burnley and Wolves next season, those three clubs and the likes of Middlesbrough, Wrexham, Southampton and others could be pushing hard for promotion.
The Clarets could pose a serious threat to West Ham if Bellamy does take over, as journalist Alan Nixon claims he may do.
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According to former Sun reporter Nixon’s Patreon, Bellamy has changed agents to Will Salthouse – who used to work closely with ex Hammers chief David Sullivan – and has performed a U-turn on leaving Wales to take the Burnley job.
Nixon claims it is now just a matter of time before Bellamy takes over at Turf Moor.
“Bellamy is under contract with Wales and (has) repeatedly pledged his allegiance to their cause,” Nixon said.
“But the deal on offer at Turf Moor is likely to change that and he should return to the club where he worked with Vincent Kompany before.”
With Blackburn’s owners now able to spend after restrictions on their money lifted in India and Derby also receiving a big injection of cash, the race for Premier League promotion could be as fiercely competitive as ever.
That means West Ham have to be ready for the gruelling battle while also adjusting to being the big fish in the division, where most teams will sit back against them, making it difficult for Nuno to play his preferred counter-attacking style.
Bellamy rocking up at promotion rivals Burnley certainly gives Nuno and the Hammers something to worry about.
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