West Ham next manager: Champions League winner now odds-on favourite to replace Nuno
Nuno Espirito Santo is under heavy pressure at West Ham, with the manager unable to drag the East London side out of the relegation zone.
On Tuesday, West Ham suffered a late 2-1 defeat to Nottingham Forest, meaning that they are now seven points from safety.
This was just the latest in a long line of terrible defeats for the former Tottenham boss, with an awful 3-0 loss to Wolves also occurring on the weekend.
As a result, Nuno could soon be sacked by West Ham, with relegation now seemingly inevitable.
While Ruben Amorim has been linked to the Hammers post, Michael Carrick has now emerged as the favourite.
Defeat. pic.twitter.com/xXbkBgvzCV
— West Ham United (@WestHam) January 6, 2026
Michael Carrick 1/3 to become West Ham manager
Carrick has been linked to plenty of jobs in recent weeks.
The former Middlesbrough boss continues to be eyed by Championship clubs after previously impressing in the second tier.
Carrick has also been linked with an interim role at Man United, the club where the midfielder won a Champions League title in his playing days.
However, as it stands, the bookies appear certain that the 44-year-old will end up at West Ham if they do part ways with Nuno.
One bookmaker has Carrick to the Hammers as short as 1/3, with Oddschecker on 7 January confirming that these odds have been slashed.
Also in contention for the position is Slaven Bilic, who is 5/2 to take over, while Amorim is the third-favourite at 6/1.
Carrick’s managerial career explained
So far, Carrick has only had one permanent job in manager.
This came at Middlesbrough between 2022 and 2025, where he achieved mixed success.
Despite consistently being in the race for the playoffs, Carrick failed to get Boro promoted, which eventually led to his dismissal at the end of the 2024-25 campaign.
BREAKING: Middlesbrough part ways with manager Michael Carrick 🚨 pic.twitter.com/Q6awJvFyoP
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) June 4, 2025
However, he did lead Middlesbrough to the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup in the 2023-24 season, before they were knocked out by Chelsea.
Before his time at Boro, Carrick was also briefly interim manager at Man United in 2021, where he oversaw two wins and a draw in his three matches in charge.