Credit: Sky Sports' The Gary Neville Podcast / Imago
Credit: Sky Sports' The Gary Neville Podcast / Imago

Gary Neville: West Ham must make Nuno Espirito Santo announcement 'in the next week' amid exit rumours

Harri Burton

Senior Correspondent AUTHORITY Senior football journalist specialising in refereeing and officiating; former contributor to The Football League Paper, Late Tackle, and the Premier League; University of Derby graduate. FOCUS Refereeing controversies, football finance and governance, PGMOL decisions, and officiating analysis across the Premier League, EFL, and SPFL. THE INSIGHT Harri utilises a network of officiating and industry contacts to deliver verified, expert analysis of refereeing decisions and PGMOL policy. He provides the regulatory clarity behind the controversy to ensure fans get the full picture.

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Gary Neville has urged West Ham United to sort the future of Nuno Espirito Santo as the number-one priority this season.

The Hammers' 1-0 defeat to Arsenal on Sunday, 10 May, edged them closer to relegation from the Premier League, with Tottenham yet to take on Leeds United in matchweek 36.

Nuno Espirito Santo has added some much-needed belief to the squad since his arrival in September, but with just two games of the 2025-26 campaign remaining, his team are one point from safety.

Nuno's future at West Ham has been up in the air, not helped by his recent comments to the media, with David Sullivan and Co. now being sent a key message ahead of the summer window.

Nuno Espirito Santo announcement could stop West Ham domino effect

With relegation to the Championship looking increasingly likely, multiple big-name stars have already been linked with exits, while Nuno's future doesn't look secure, despite signing a three-year deal.

Speaking on the Gary Neville Podcast (10 May), Neville said: "Whatever they need to do to keep him, they should do. That will stabilise things, like the domino effect of losing your best players.

"Nuno, absolutely, is the first person you should be knocking on the door for, saying 'commit'. And let's get this announced in the next week.

West HamGamesWonDrawnLostWin %
Nuno Espirito Santo351191531%

"The minute we go down, if we go down, 'Nuno stays' is the first thing you want to be saying to fans so you don't demoralise them even more than how being relegated would already do."

What has Nuno said about his future at the London Stadium?

As already discussed, Nuno's comments in the media have done very little to ease concerns about his future in East London, having spoken about the topic ahead of the Arsenal game.

When asked, he said: “I’m going to be honest with you – I don’t have one second to think about next season. It’s so demanding what we have, the challenge, especially the game on Sunday."

With the manager then going on to say that he's taking things "day-by-day," many are worried that relegation could mean the end of his time at the London Stadium.

Football Insider understands that Nuno's got the backing of West Ham's owners, but the noises coming from the stadium have only thrown more uncertainty over the current situation.

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