Nuno Espirito Santo puts West Ham star on gardening leave as Will Still asks for Saints favour
Big developments are unfolding at West Ham with Nuno Espirito Santo making a decisive call on one of his players and his exit is already being lined up.
Nuno Espirito Santo made big headlines within 48 hours of being named West Ham boss at the weekend.
Now Southampton hope to be the beneficiaries.
Hammers fans had been calling on Graham Potter to ditch his obsession with James Ward-Prowse all year.
But he continued to select the waning midfielder ahead of the likes of Freddie Potts.
Nuno ends Ward-Prowse unrest at West Ham
West Ham fans had seen enough when Potter subbed off Mateus Fernandes ahead of Ward-Prowse in his last game as manager – the 2-1 defeat to Palace.
Potter’s blind faith in Ward-Prowse was so extreme it became a central theme of the face swap meme trend which pre-ceded his dismissal.
Nuno’s first big call as Hammers boss was to axe Ward-Prowse.
The Portuguese’s decision to drop the soon-to-be 31-year-old should not have come as a massive surprise given he was manager of Forest during Ward-Prowse’s disastrous loan spell there last season.
The former Southampton captain barely featured and saw his loan cancelled six months early as Potter brought him back to east London in January.
But Nuno’s decision to leave him out of the Hammers squad altogether for the 1-1 draw at Everton has raised eyebrows.
Some have labelled it harsh, but Nuno said it was best for the team and revealed after the game he had spoken to the player and thinks he understands the situation.
Hammers fans loved that Nuno immediately used Academy graduate Potts in his first game, bringing him on with great success as he played a big part in West Ham getting a positive result.
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