Nottingham Forest sack Nuno Espirito Santo after transfer rows and clash with new sporting director
Owner Evangelos Marinakis cites ‘recent circumstances’ as Forest move quickly to identify replacements with Ange Postecoglou among the frontrunners
Nottingham Forest dismissed manager Nuno Espírito Santo early Tuesday after a portfolio of tensions over transfers, the appointment of a new global head of football and a breakdown in relations at the club's top level.
The club confirmed the Portuguese coach's departure in an 80-word statement released 15 minutes past midnight UK time, saying the decision followed “recent circumstances.” The sacking came three games into the Premier League season and follows an unusually public dispute over recruitment that escalated across the summer.
The rupture traces back to July, when Forest appointed former Arsenal sporting director Edu Gaspar as global head of football on July 7 — 17 days after the club had given Nuno a three-year contract. Club sources and reporting indicate Edu's arrival, which had been in planning for some time, altered the power balance at the club and became a central cause of friction. Nuno publicly criticised Forest’s transfer policy on the eve of the season, and inside the club his relationship with the new structure was described as strained.
Disputes centred on the recruitment list and who was driving it. Several signings made this summer were widely reported to have been recommended by Edu rather than specifically requested by Nuno, including Omari Hutchinson and Douglas Luiz. Hutchinson, a club-record signing at £37.5 million, was omitted from Forest's Europa League squad last week, and Luiz had not featured off the bench at the time of the manager's dismissal. Another signing, defender Cuiabano, returned to Brazil on loan three days after arriving, a move that further complicated relations between coaching staff and the football operations team.
Nuno had communicated clear demands during the window. He sought an attacking addition in the mould of Adama Traoré, a player he coached at Wolverhampton Wanderers, and had asked for established cover at full back and in goal. Sources say club executives were reluctant to approach Traoré’s then-club, Fulham, and questioned whether the player would have been willing to move. Earlier in the recruitment cycle, Nuno had requested greater depth — two players per position — to cope with the demands of domestic and European football, but reportedly became uneasy as the squad expanded and more players began to expect starting roles.
Forest invested heavily in the summer transfer window. The club committed more than £200 million on new players, a level of spending that, by some measures, outstripped major European clubs. That outlay, while boosting the size and profile of the squad, exposed differences in philosophy between manager and the ownership-led strategy for building the team.
Tensions were not entirely new. According to club discussions reported last season, Forest officials first entertained doubts about Nuno’s position as far back as spring 2024 when the team were fighting to secure Premier League survival. After a draw with Wolves late in that campaign, the board considered replacing him, and players were discreetly canvassed about his methods. Despite that, Nuno stayed on and presided over a markedly successful 2024-25 season that transformed the club’s prospects: Forest pushed for European qualification and reached the FA Cup semi-finals, a run widely credited in part to the manager’s work in forging a close-knit, disciplined unit.
Those achievements and Nuno’s personal interventions — from extending time spent at training to encouraging communal spaces for players — are cited by supporters and club figures as key to the previous season’s turnaround. Yet concerns persisted about tactical flexibility. Some within Forest questioned whether a low-possession, counter-attacking approach could satisfy the club’s longer-term ambitions for regular European competition and trophies under owner Evangelos Marinakis.
The immediate trigger for the decision appears to have been a series of public and private rows over recruitment and power within the football structure. Nuno had expected a meeting with Marinakis during the recent international break, sources said, but those talks did not take place. A home defeat to West Ham by 3-0 before the break further weakened the manager's position, but club insiders pointed to the reconfiguration of football operations and the appointment of Edu as a deeper, structural source of the breakdown.
Forest have identified potential replacements and are moving quickly. Ange Postecoglou, who left Tottenham Hotspur over the summer, is among the names reported to be in contention. Marco Silva, currently at Fulham, has been held in high regard by owner Marinakis, and Oliver Glasner, who was among late contenders in a previous managerial search, is also a figure linked to the club in reporting. The club has signalled a desire to appoint before the weekend trip to Arsenal.
The role and influence of Edu, who previously worked at Arsenal and is expected to act as a bridge between the squad, coaching staff and ownership, will attract renewed scrutiny as Forest seek a new manager. Edu has reportedly kept a distance from the training ground to avoid undermining the manager, but his remit across Marinakis’ network of clubs, including Olympiacos and Rio Ave, is still being defined. How the new coach and Edu will work together will be central to whether the club can sustain last season’s ascent.
Forest's ownership and hierarchy now face a short-term managerial appointment task amid a congested fixture list and an expanded squad built for domestic and European demands. The board's next steps will determine whether the club can consolidate the progress of recent months or enter another period of transition.
A club statement confirmed the immediate departure and said further details would follow. The search for a replacement is underway, and interim arrangements are expected to be announced ahead of the team's next match.