Nuno Espírito Santo has said he will hold crunch talks with Evangelos Marinakis during the international break to resolve his Nottingham Forest future. Marinakis, speaking after Forest discovered their Europa League opponents in Monaco, said he wants Nuno to remain in charge.
Nuno said he thought he would be in charge after the international window and plans to discuss his future with Marinakis in the coming days. The Greek billionaire will attend Forest’s home fixture with West Ham on Sunday.
Nuno has spoken to Marinakis on the phone but has not had a longer discussion with him since publicly voicing his concerns.
“We have to talk,” Nuno said. “These kinds of things should be done at the right moment, and the right moment is after the game. Now we are focused on West Ham, then we have the international break and I think that is the right moment. Things are OK. We are working very hard to compete, this is what is really important.”
Asked whether he worried about his position, Nuno said: “I’m totally relaxed in that sense. We need to have a talk about the future of the club, how we should address after the transfer market and all these things – what is the commitment to the club. Me and the president want the same thing. We want the best for Forest, that’s for sure.”
Marinakis said “everything is solid” between him and Nuno. “What counts at the end of the day is the real relationship between me and Nuno, between Nuno and the players and between the players and ourselves,” he said. “Everything is solid. We all want Nottingham to succeed.
“We are here in the good days but we are even closer in the difficult days, so personally I don’t see a problem. I’m going to London today, I’m flying back and over the weekend we will meet each other and I don’t see any problem whatsoever. We are all together, united, and we’ll make some corrective actions and everything will be smooth and ready to go.”
Last week Nuno revealed his relationship with Marinakis had deteriorated owing to a rift with Edu, who was appointed global head of football for Marinakis’s stable of clubs less than a month after the Portuguese signed a new three-year contract as head coach.
Nuno said he had “no regrets” about publicly divulging his relationship with Marinakis has broken down. Last week Nuno said there was “no smoke without fire” amid reports his job was in jeopardy. Nuno conceded he had not spoken to Edu, who attended Forest’s draw at Crystal Palace last Sunday, since his comments. “I said it, and I don’t regret it,” Nuno said. “For me, it’s important that everyone at the club shares the same vision and same commitment. I have to speak to the owner.”
Nuno expressed confidence that Forest were working towards strengthening his squad, with an £11m deal for the Juventus defender Nicolo Savona likely to be the first of two full-back signings. Nuno also wants a backup goalkeeper, with Getafe’s David Soria the primary target.
Forest will face Malmö in the league phase of the Europa League, a rerun of the 1979 European Cup final, when Trevor Francis scored the winner in a 1-0 triumph for Brian Clough’s side. Forest will also play Porto, Real Betis, Ferencvaros, Braga, Midtjylland, Sturm Graz and Utrecht.
