Former Wolves and Tottenham boss Nuno Espirito Santo has spoken to Nottingham Forest amid growing uncertainty over the future of manager Steve Cooper.

Former Eintracht Frankfurt boss Oliver Glasner has also been mentioned as a likely replacement if Cooper went, but it seems Nuno is now in pole position.

Forest, 17th in the top flight, have won once in 13 Premier League games and taken eight points in that time.

They have also picked up just one point from their past six matches and are five points ahead of third-bottom Luton, who have a match in hand.

Cooper has consistently been backed by the Forest support, but owner Evangelos Marinakis has become increasingly concerned at his club’s plight.

Forest play Bournemouth at the City Ground on Saturday before tough-looking fixtures at Newcastle United on 26 December and at home to Manchester United on 30 December.

Nuno spent four years in charge of Wolves, guiding the club to promotion from the Championship in his first season in charge before consecutive seventh-place finishes in the Premier League and a run to the Europa League quarter-finals.

The Portuguese former goalkeeper left Molineux in the summer of 2021 to join Spurs, but was sacked after less than four months in charge after a run of five defeats in seven games.

He joined Al-Ittihad in July 2022 and guided the Jeddah-based side to the Saudi title last season, but was dismissed 12 games into the new campaign after a run of poor results.

He previously managed Rio Ave, Valencia and Porto.