Nuno Espirito Santo tipped to join Fenerbahce after Spurs talks

Nuno Espirito Santo could be named as new Fenerbahce head coach in the coming days after entering advanced talks with the Turkish club. This comes despite renewed interest from Tottenham in their ongoing search for a permanent successor to Jose Mourinho.

Nuno left Wolves at the end of last season and was briefly expected to take over at Everton before the Toffees began more advanced talks with Rafa Benitez. He was also of serious interest to Crystal Palace, while Spurs have since opened talks after failed negotiations with several other targets.

But news from Turkey suggests that the Portuguese may not be staying in the Premier League at all, with Radyo Gol claiming a ‘final meeting’ between Nuno and Fenerbahce is taking place on Monday.

Despite contact with Spurs, he has seemingly now become the most likely candidate to take the vacant job in Istanbul after talks with the Super Lig giants ‘accelerated’, with the scheduled meeting potentially resulting in him being offered the job and appointed.

Nuno has worked in England for the past four years, joining Wolves in 2017 when the club was in the Championship. Equipped with a top squad that included the arrivals of Ruben Neves, whom he had coached at Porto, Diogo Jota, Willy Boly and others, he masterminded an immediate promotion charge and then guided Wolves to back-to-back seventh place finishes in the Premier League.

The 2020/21 campaign was more challenging for Nuno and Wolves, ending in a disappointing 13th, prompting a parting of ways and a fresh start for each in the coming season.

Fenerbahce finished third in Turkey in 2020/21 and have not been crowned champions since 2014, which makes it the club’s longest title drought since the Super Lig was created in 1959.

Should he get the Fenerbahce job it would be the latest in a string of blows for Spurs, who are yet to appoint a successor to Jose Mourinho more than two months after the former boss was sacked. Talks with Paulo Fonseca and Antonio Conte have crumbled, while the club pulled out of further contact with Gennaro Gattuso after an angry backlash from fans.

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