Portuguese manager Nuno Espírito Santo will continue at the helm of West Ham despite the London team’s relegation to the Championship, the second tier of English football, the London club reported today.
“We had meetings with manager Nuno Espírito Santo at the beginning of the week and we were happy to confirm that he expressed his continued commitment to the club — just as we did with him,” the Hammers stated in a press release.
The club, which finished the English football league in 18th and third-from-last place, added that the Portuguese manager is “highly motivated” by the challenge of “leading West Ham back to the elite” of English football at the very first opportunity.
“That must be the clear objective for next season. Nuno has already competed in the Championship for one year with extraordinary success, winning the 2018 title with Wolverhampton with 99 points,” added the club, which has a contract with the coach until 2028.
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The 52-year-old Portuguese manager was sacked in early September by Nottingham Forest, who ultimately stayed in the Premier League, and at the end of that same month took over West Ham, who were in second-to-last place, but he could not overturn the Hammers’ poor season.
“The 25 points earned in our last 17 Premier League games equate to an average of 1.47 points per game — which would take us to seventh place over a full season. We believe that the improvement in the squad’s mentality and unity since January, which led to this recovery in performance and results, makes him the right man to lead us going forward,” the club justified.
The last time West Ham competed in the Championship was during the 2011/12 season, and after that, the club spent 14 consecutive seasons in the top flight, a period in which they won a European trophy, the Conference League, in 2022/23, with David Moyes in charge.
