Nuno Espirito Santo a top target by clubs in Spain and Portugal this summer

Nuno Espirito Santo is a target for clubs in Portugal and Spain, who are debating whether to sign him away from Nottingham Forest.

Despite receiving a four-point deduction for violating spending regulations during his tenure, Nuno guided Forest to survival, finally finishing six points ahead of 18th-placed Luton.

Nuno has one year remaining on the deal he signed to replace Steve Cooper last December, with the option for another season.

Forest are said to be pleased with Nuno’s performance and would see no cause to alter ahead of the 2024-25 season.

Nuno’s reputation remains strong both in his own country, where he has coached Porto and Rio Ave, and in Spain, where he led Valencia to Champions League qualification in 2014. There is also speculation in football circles in those countries that Nuno may be enticed back for the right role.

Nuno joined Wolves in 2017 and had previously played for Tottenham and Al-Ittihad in the Saudi Pro League before joining Forest midway through the most recent season.

If either of Portugal’s ‘big three’ teams needed to make a move this summer, Nuno would undoubtedly be considered.

Sergio Conceicao of Porto is appreciated by Italian clubs, while Ruben Amorim of Sporting Lisbon is regarded as one of the continent’s best young coaches.

Meanwhile, Roger Schmidt’s Benfica finished 10 points behind Sporting in the Portuguese title race.

Nuno is the highest-paid manager in Forest history, and while he has secured survival, his relationship with the fans has not yet blossomed in the same way as it did at Wolves, where fans adored him.

After guiding Wolves to promotion in his debut season, Nuno guided them to consecutive seventh-place finishes in the Premier League, as well as an FA Cup semi-final and a Europa League quarter-final.

But he has never reached those heights in English football since, despite the fact that when Forest recruited him, they expected him to immediately lead them up the table in the coming seasons.