Nuno Espírito Santo

Nuno Herlander Simões Espírito Santo (born 25 January 1974), known as Nuno Espírito Santo or simply Nuno, is a Portuguese football manager and former player who played as a goalkeeper.

He is the head coach of Premier League club Nottingham Forest.

During his career, Espírito Santo first made a name for himself in Spain, playing for three teams in five years.

He later returned to Portugal to represent Porto, and also played professionally in Russia.

After a meeting with the then Porto nightclub owner Jorge Mendes, Espírito Santo became the agent's first client in 1996.

Mendes brokered a $1 million transfer the following January to La Liga's Deportivo La Coruña, although Espírito Santo spent three of his six seasons at the club out on loan, backing up Jacques Songo'o (1996–1998) and José Francisco Molina (2001–02) when he was part of the team.

He was the preferred goalkeeper for the winning campaign in the Copa del Rey in the latter season, although Javier Irureta played Molina in the final victory over Real Madrid.

Espírito Santo represented Portugal at the 1996 Summer Olympics, playing four matches for the fourth-placed team.

He also played for the nation's B team.

In 1999–2000, as he represented Mérida in the Segunda División, Espírito Santo won the Ricardo Zamora Trophy and helped the team finish sixth, but the club would be relegated to Segunda División B due to irregularities.

He was loaned to Osasuna the following season, going on to rank seventh in the Zamora as his team finished only one point above the relegation zone in the top tier.

José Mourinho's Porto paid €3 million to sign Espírito Santo in July 2002, as part of the deal that saw Jorge Andrade join Deportivo.

During a 2003 Taça de Portugal match against Varzim, he was allowed by Mourinho to convert a penalty kick, scoring the club's last goal in a 7–0 home win.

In May 2004, Espírito Santo was an unused substitute for the final as Porto won the 2003–04 UEFA Champions League.

On 12 December, he replaced club great Vítor Baía during extra time of the 2004 Intercontinental Cup final penalty shoot-out victory against Once Caldas.

However, in January, he was sold to Russian Premier League club Dynamo Moscow.

In January 2007, Espírito Santo returned to Portugal for a stint with Aves, eventually relegated from the Primeira Liga.

He returned to Porto in July, backing up Brazilian Helton during most of his spell.

Despite his limited involvement on the pitch – earning him the nickname O Substituto – he was considered a leader at the club.

He was part of the Portuguese squad at UEFA Euro 2008, but never won a cap for the national team.

Espírito Santo started his coaching career at Greek club Panathinaikos as an assistant.

Espírito Santo again played second-fiddle to Helton during the 2008–09 season, appearing in only four games, but was the starter throughout the domestic cup campaign, including the 1–0 final win against Paços de Ferreira.

Uncapped, he was called to the squad competing in UEFA Euro 2008, replacing the injured Quim.

On 21 June 2010, Porto announced that Espírito Santo's contract would not be renewed.

The 36-year-old said he would always support Porto as he left.

After his retirement, he rejoined former Porto manager Jesualdo Ferreira, moving to Málaga as a goalkeeping coach, before the pair signed for Panathinaikos in November.

He became a coach in 2012, leading Portuguese club Rio Ave to both domestic cup finals in 2014.

After brief spells at Valencia in Spain's La Liga, and a return to Porto, he managed Wolverhampton Wanderers for four years.

In 2021, he took over as manager of Tottenham Hotspur, but was relieved of his duties after four months in charge.

He became manager of Al-Ittihad Club in July 2022 where he won a league title and Saudi Super Cup before being dismissed in November 2023.

The following month, he returned to the Premier League as head coach of Nottingham Forest.

Espírito Santo was born in São Tomé, Portuguese São Tomé and Príncipe, and started his football career with Vitória Guimarães.

In May 2012, Rio Ave dismissed manager Carlos Brito and announced the appointment of Espírito Santo.

In his first match in charge on 18 August, the team lost 1–0 at home to Marítimo in the first game of the 2012–13 Primeira Liga season.

He recorded his first win nine days later, by the same margin away to Sporting CP.

In his second season in charge, Espírito Santo's team reached both the Taça de Portugal and Taça da Liga finals, therefore leading them to the UEFA Europa League for the first time in their history.

Espírito Santo signed a one-year contract with Valencia in La Liga on 4 July 2014, replacing Juan Antonio Pizzi.

On 12 January 2015, he agreed to an extension to keep him at the club until 2018, and he eventually led them to a fourth place finish in his first season, Highlights inluded a 2–1 home win over Real Madrid and a 2–2 away draw against the same opponent, while he was named La Liga Manager of the Month three times/ He resigned on 29 November 2015, following a 1–0 away defeat to Sevilla, after a poor start to both Valencia's La Liga and Champions League campaigns.

During his time at Valencia, Espírito Santo, his agent Jorge Mendes and club owner Peter Lim were criticised for signing the agent's clients.

Roberto Ayala, who won several trophies as a Valencia player and later became a scout, left the club, alleging that they were signing such players for inflated fees.