Nuno Espirito Santo

Known simply as Nuno during his playing career as a goalkeeper, Espírito Santo first made a name for himself in Spain before returning to his home country of Portugal in 2002 to sign for Porto. After calling time on his playing career, he re-joined his former Porto manager, Jesualdo Ferreira, as a goalkeeping coach, first at Malaga and then at Panathinaikos. Becoming a manager in his own right in May 2012, he took Rio Ave to the final of the Taça de Portugal and the Taça da Liga, finishing both cup competitions as runners up to Benfica and qualifying for the Europa League for the first time in the club’s history. He subsequently led Spanish giants Valencia to a fourth place finish in his first season and was named La Liga Manager of the Month three times. Moving to Porto in 2016, he finished second in the league before relocating to England, where he was named manager of Wolverhampton Wanderers. He led Wolves to the Premier League after a six-year absence, winning the EFL Championship with two games to spare. In recognition of this achievement, he was voted LMA Championship Manager of the Year. In his time at the Molineux Stadium he achieved consecutive seventh-place finishes in the Premier League and led Wolves to the quarter-finals of the Europa League. He was appointed head coach of Tottenham Hotspur in June 2021.