From face swap to boss swap: Graham Potter’s time at West Ham United is over after the Hammers dispensed with his services on Saturday morning.
Potter’s departure had seemed inevitable but the timing of it was curious, coming after the beleaguered boss had taken his pre-match press conference for Gameweek 6 but before Monday’s trip to Everton.
West Ham look to be moving quickly to replace the sacked Potter.
It’s being widely reported that Nuno Espirito Santo is set to become the club’s new head coach.
BBC Sport, among others, say that Nuno and the Hammers “are in advanced talks” and that he could even be installed as manager in time for the trip to Merseyside.
INITIAL FPL REACTION
It goes without saying that Nuno’s appointment may rekindle a bit of interest in West Ham’s defensive assets.
El Hadji Malick Diouf (£4.4m) is already on three assists for the season, so if Nuno can add clean-sheet potential to that attacking threat, we could be looking at a bargain from the Hammers’ ranks.
Almost all of West Ham’s defenders, indeed, are now under £4.5m.
Given the success of Murillo (£5.4m) in racking up defensive contributions (DefCon/DC) points under Nuno last season, could someone like Max Kilman (£4.4m) become a viable option, too?
And in terms of a ‘big man up front’, as 20-goal Chris Wood (£7.5m) was for Forest in 2025/26, could Niclas Fullkrug (£5.7m) fit the bill? If he can stay fit, of course…
New manager bounce or not, few FPL managers will be bringing West Ham players into their sides for a Gameweek 7 trip to Arsenal.
Thereafter, though, there are some decent short-term fixtures to tap into:
We’ll have a full Moving Target report to come on the new West Ham boss on Monday.
