Nuno Espirito Santo keen on Premier League return, under discussion for Leeds United job – Phil Hay
Nuno Espirito Santo is “keen” on a return to the Premier League as the Portuguese remains under consideration for the Leeds United job, Phil Hay reports.
Since sacking Jesse Marsch at the start of the week (6 February) the Whites have been hit by a series of disappointments with their preferred candidates, first with West Brom’s Carlos Corberan, then Rayo Vallecano’s Andoni Iraola, then Feyenoord’s Arne Slot.
But it sounds like there might be more chance of success with former Tottenham and Wolves boss Nuno, who is currently working in Saudi Arabia, as he would welcome another opportunity in the English top flight.
Hay wrote in The Athletic on Saturday (11 February): “Former Wolverhampton Wanderers and Tottenham Hotspur manager Nuno Espirito Santo is one of those under discussion.
“Nuno is in charge of Al-Ittihad in Saudi Arabia but would be keen on another chance in the Premier League.”
Fallback
He may not be plan A or B, or even C, but with the options rapidly dwindling there is an argument that the 49-year-old makes sense.
He may have lost his Spurs job in a short space of time, but he got that job off the back of a creditable time at Molineux that saw back-to-back seventh-placed finishes in the Premier League after winning the Championship title.
Even the season that saw him leave the Midlands club was a 13th-placed finish, which given the way last season ended and this season is shaping up for Leeds United would be far from a terrible result.
The former goalkeeper was the beneficiary of extensive investment and Portuguese imports when in charge at Wolves, but the American influx and big spending in January makes the Whites look like a similar sort of proposition at the moment.
The manager hunt hasn’t gone according to plan so whatever the result is now will need to work fast otherwise there will be very little faith in whoever it is, as fourth choice or worse.
The club need to be kept up above all, and Nuno wasn’t in danger of relegation in his years at Wolves, even though Bruno Lage was sacked earlier this season for falling into that battle as his successor.
It won’t be an exciting appointment, or necessarily the right one long-term, but when the Whites are struggling to land anyone right now he might be a reasonable alternative at this point.
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