Nuno Espirito Santo has earned rightful plaudits for his work at Nottingham Forest this season, with the reward of a new contract reportedly in the wings.
Espirito Santo is in line for a new Forest deal for understandable reasons given the club’s incredible season so far, highlighted no better than the 7-0 win against Brighton directly responding to Forest’s 5-0 defeat to Bournemouth.
Whilst the Forest squad naturally took the majority of the praise after the Brighton result, with Joe Cole hailing Murillo’s display as one of many outstanding performers, Espirito Santo deserves credit for how he adapted to Callum Hudson-Odoi’s injury to produce a free-flowing five at the back system.
Brian Laws praised Espirito Santo’s tactics against Brentford as well, highlighting that the Portuguese coach is getting the credit he deserves for his role in Forest’s rise this season.
It’s no surprise then that Forest are looking to offer Espirito Santo a new deal, but the timeline may not quite be what Forest fans are expecting.Nottingham Forest are holding off on Nuno Espirito Santo contract
Evangelos Marinakis will no doubt be looking to reward his side for their stellar work this season, with Marinakis promising Espirito Santo a transfer bounty should Forest qualify for Europe this season.
However, the Forest manager will need to be patient with his new contract, according to exclusive information given to Nottingham Forest News by Graeme Bailey.
On Espirito Santo’s contract, Bailey said: “It is the diary for 2025 – they love his work, he is very happy. I believe they will want him tied up by the summer but with this now crucial run-in, they won’t want to distract him unless he really wants it done now.”
There has never been a suggestion that the two don’t have a good relationship, as Marinakis personally chose Espirito Santo for the Forest job over other candidates in 2023.
This means that there is likely strong trust between the pair, hopefully suggesting that Espirito Santo will happily agree with Marinakis about holding off until after the crucial Premier League run-in coming up.
Nottingham Forest have a crucial run of fixtures in the hunt for European football
Forest have done brilliantly to maintain a Champions League qualification position in the Premier League table, but their next five fixtures could provide the strongest test to their grip on the top four.
Fulham are a side with talent but the form book suggests Forest will be favourites for that clash, but the following three fixtures are where things become tense.
An away trip to face European football-chasing Newcastle United, who have a striker in Alexander Isak who is somehow in better form than Chris Wood, is followed up by consecutive home games against second-placed Arsenal and a Manchester City side desperately trying to revive their season.
The Forest owner will not be looking at these fixtures to decide if Espirito Santo is worthy of a new contract at all, but the weight of their importance needs no distractions so any contract talks will need to be put on hold.
