West Ham United announced on its official website on Saturday that its English manager Graham Potter has been sacked with immediate effect. Former Nottingham Forest Portuguese head coach Nuno Espirito Santo, has been appointed as the club's new manager.

According to West Ham United's official statement, due to the club's poor performances in the second half of last season and in the first few matches of the new season, the board believes the time has come to make changes to ensure the club's survival in the Premier League.

Additionally, Porter's assistants Bruno Saltor, Billy Reid, and Narcis Pelach, as well as goalkeeping coaches Kasper Ankergren and Linus Kandolin, have also been sacked with immediate effect.

Nuno Espirito Santo has signed a three-year contract with the club which runs until the summer of 2028.

Espirito Santo has led the club's first training session since taking over and will make his Hammers coaching debut in the match against Everton away on Monday.

Until his assistants are confirmed, youth academy coaches Mark Robson, Steve Potts, Gerard Prenderwell, and Billy Lepine will assist Espirito Santo on an interim basis.

After joining the club, Espirito Santo, was interviewed by the West Ham United official website for the first time, said: "I am delighted to be here and proud to represent West Ham United. My goal is to get the best out of the team and ensure we remain as competitive as possible. The work has begun, and I look forward to the challenges ahead."

About Graham Potter

The 49-year-old Potter was born on May 20, 1975 in Solihull, England. He is 1.85 meters tall. He played as a left back during his playing career. He has played for Birmingham City, Stoke City, Southampton, Macclesfield, and is also a York City legend.

After retiring, Potter served as the head coach of the former Swedish Allsvenskan club Östersunds from 2011 to 2018.

During his coaching career at Östersunds, Potter was often known for successfully discovering and successfully transforming stars from the English non-league. He also became famous for leading the club to a shock win over Galatasaray, PAOK Salonika and Arsenal during the 2017/18 UEFA Europa League.

In the summer of 2018, Potter was appointed as the head coach of Swansea City.

During his tenure at the Swans, Potter led the team to nearly defeat Manchester City in the FA Cup.

The following summer, Potter was appointed as Brighton head coach.

During the three-year spell as the head coach of Seagulls, Potter helped the club gradually transform from a relegation battling club to a super dark horse with excellent style of play, and once led the club to shock wins over Manchester United twice.

In September 2022, Potter replaced England national team head coach Thomas Tuchel as Chelsea head coach.

However, during his coaching tenure at the club, the Blues owner Todd Boehly had been frantically signing players in the transfer market, this made Potter have no time to properly figure out his best lineup, resulting in his poor performances and eventually being sacked in April of the following year.

After leaving Chelsea, Potter was approached by Ajax, but he refused to join the Eredivisie giants, whose performances has seriously declined in recent years.

In January 2025, Potter replaced current Qatar national team manager Julen Lopetegui as West Ham United's new manager.

During his eight months in charge of the Hammers, Potter managed the Premier League club in 25 matches across all competitions, achieving 6 wins, 5 draws, and 14 losses, with a win percentage of 24%.

About Nuno Espirito Santo

Espirito Santo, 51, was born on January 25, 1974, in São Tomé and Príncipe. He is 1.88 meters tall and plays as a goalkeeper. He holds dual citizenship of São Tomé and Príncipe and Portugal, and was a legendary player at Porto during his playing career.

After retiring, Espirito Santo held managerial positions at Rio Ave, Valencia, and Porto, before being appointed head coach of Wolverhampton Wanderers in May 2017.

During his four-year tenure at Wolves, Espirito Santo won the EFL Championship once and reached the Europa League. He was also renowned for mentoring players such as Rubén Neves, Pedro Neto, Willy Boly, Morgan Gibbs-White, Conor Coady, Raúl Jimenez, and the late legendary Liverpool and Portugal international striker Diogo Jota. 

In the summer of 2021, Espirito Santo was appointed as Tottenham Hotspur head coach, but was sacked after four months due to poor results.

The following July, Espirito Santo was appointed Al-Ittihad head coach.

During his tenure, he won the Saudi Pro League and the Saudi Super Cup once each with the club, but was sacked in November 2023 following an upset loss to an Iraqi club in the AFC Champions League.

A month after leaving Al-Ittihad, Espirito Santo replaced Steve Cooper as Nottingham Forest's new head coach in December 2023.

Last season, he earned praise for leading the club with remarkable performances, which secured a European qualification spot for the first time in many years.

However, Espirito Santo was sacked 18 days prior (September 10) following a major falling-out with chairman Evangelos Marinakis.