Former Wolves boss Nuno is closing in on the Crystal Palace job; Palace have been searching for a successor to Roy Hodgson; Out-of-contract Palace trio Patrick van Aanholt, Mamadou Sakho and Connor Wickham will all leave club
Wednesday 9 June 2021 11:13, UK
Crystal Palace are close to finalising a deal to make former Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo their new manager.
Palace have been searching for a replacement for Roy Hodgson, who stepped down at the conclusion of the 2020/21 season following close to four years in charge, and hope to have a new manager in place by the weekend.
The Portuguese held three days worth of talks about the Selhurst Park job last week and has held further positive discussions with the club's board.
Should he be appointed it would complete a swift return to Premier League management for Nuno, who left Wolves by mutual consent at the end of the season.
Palace hope to conclude a deal as soon as possible with a number of first-team players out of contract this summer. However, Patrick van Aanholt, Mamadou Sakho and Connor Wickham will not be signing extensions and will leave.
Nuno's stock rose among Premier League clubs for the job he did at Wolves, leading the club to the Championship title in 2018, before bringing European football to Molineux with back-to-back seventh-placed finishes.
The 47-year-old also recently spoke with Everton about their vacant managerial post, and has been linked with the same role at Tottenham.
Palace, meanwhile, are thought to have been considering a number of managerial candidates including Frank Lampard, Swansea's Steve Cooper, Barnsley's Valerian Ismael, Brentford's Thomas Frank and former Nice coach Patrick Vieira.
