Nuno Espirito Santo close to becoming Everton manager

Everton are set to announce former Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo as their new manager.

Nuno, 47, will be formally offered the job this weekend and could be unveiled by Everton early next week, according to the Daily Mail’s northern football correspondent, Dominic King.

Everton have been without a manager since Carlo Ancelotti’s shock return to Real Madrid on June 1.

The Mail reports that Everton owner Farhad Moshiri had considered numerous other managers, including ex-Blues chief David Moyes, former Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez, Manuel Pellegrini, Tottenham-bound Paulo Fonseca and Christophe Galtier.

But Moshiri and co. have seemingly settled on Nuno, who left Wolves at the end of the season and who looked set to become Crystal Palace boss this week, only for the move to break down.

The Guardian report that Palace ended talks with Nuno partly due to the size of the coaching staff he demanded, while the influence of his agent, Jorge Mendes, is another factor to consider for Everton, in particular for director of football Marcel Brands.

Nuno spent four years as Wolves manager, during which time he led them back to the Premier League, and delivered two successive seventh-placed finishes, an FA Cup semi-final and a Europa League quarter-final.

He was contracted to Wolves until the summer of 2023, but agreed to part ways following the conclusion of this season, which saw them finish 13th.

Nuno, a goalkeeper in his playing days, previously managed Rio Ave between May 2012 and May 2014, Valencia from July 2014 until November 2015, and Porto during the 2016-17 season.

His four years at Wolves, where he was manager for 199 games, was by some distance his longest spell in charge of the same club.

Against Everton with Wolves, Nuno managed two wins (one at Molineux and at Goodison Park), three defeats and one draw.