Why West Ham Can Save Millions by Waiting to Sack Nuno Espirito Santo

West Ham United chiefs can avoid paying millions of pounds in compensation to manager Nuno Espirito Santo if they sack him after the club are relegated.

The Hammers find themselves in the Premier League relegation zone, six points below Nottingham Forest in 17th place, with 14 rounds of fixtures remaining.

Espirito Santo has so far delivered just five wins and five draws from his first 20 matches in charge at the London Stadium.

It was widely expected that Espirito Santo was going to be sacked following a 2-1 defeat by Forest last month.

However, he kept his job — and a recent discovery about his contract might explain why.

Nuno Espirito Santo has relegation clause in West Ham contract

It has emerged this week that a clause in Espirito Santo’s West Ham United contract stipulates that the club can sack him without compensation if they are relegated from the Premier League.

Espirito Santo signed a contract until June 2028 when he moved to the London Stadium in September.

He is understood to be earning around £85,000 a week at West Ham. As a result, it could cost the club in excess of £10 million in compensation were they to sack him now and pay off the remainder of his deal.

West Ham’s owners will obviously be hoping that Espirito Santo can lead his team to safety, as the value of staying in the Premier League vastly outweighs the potential savings made on sacking compensation.

However, there is no guarantee that a change of manager would help the Hammers avoid relegation. Sticking with Espirito Santo for now at least allows West Ham to avoid the double whammy of going down and having to shell out a chunky compensation payment.

Espirito Santo has already received a seven-figure pay-off during his Premier League career. His 2021 dismissal by Tottenham Hotspur ranks seventh on the list of the most expensive Premier League manager sackings, costing Spurs an estimated £14 million.

Players to take pay cuts if West Ham are relegated

West Ham have been in the Premier League since 2012, but the club have another provision in place to help offset the cost of a possible relegation.

As reported by FootballBlog.co.uk last month, every West Ham player will be forced to take a 50% pay cut next season if the club drop into the EFL Championship.

It was estimated that this could initially see West Ham’s weekly wage bill fall from around £1.7 million to £850,000.

Furthermore, many of the club’s top earners — including Jarrod Bowen and Max Kilman — could be sold if the Hammers lose their Premier League status.