Why Nottingham Forest sacked Nuno: Transfer rows, players he didn't want and demand not met

Rows over transfers and a bitter feud with Evangelos Marinakis' newly-appointed right-hand man, Edu , proved to be the catalyst for Nuno Espirito Santo 's departure from Nottingham Forest . Forest confirmed in the early hours of Tuesday morning that Nuno, 51, had been given his marching orders with Ange Postecoglou poised to succeed him at The City Ground .

Nuno's exit comes just two weeks after he shared publicly that the relationship between he and Edu, the club's newly appointed global head of football, had already broken down and that Nuno and Marinakis were no longer on the same page.

Edu's arrival, and with it the extended influence of his representative, Kia Joorabchian, over transfers was a key factor in the unrest. Marinakis had leant heavily on so-called 'super agent' Jorge Mendes during Forest's rise in recent years to adapt and evolve his squad, a relationship further enhanced when Nuno arrived as Steve Cooper's replacement. But the decision to hand the ex-Arsenal sporting director power has seen ties with Mendes largely cut and Nuno's say on deals greatly diminished.

The club's pursuit of signings this summer, including record acquisition Omari Hutchinson, were driven by Edu. Hutchinson, represented by Joorabchian's agency, arrived from Ipswich Town in a deal worth £37.5million. He was omitted from Forest's Europa League squad by Nuno last week, a telling sign that the England Under-21 international wasn't a player the Portuguese really wanted.

Another signing heavily influenced by the Edu-Joorabchian axis is Douglas Luiz, the ex-Aston Villa midfielder he had previously tried and failed to sign for Arsenal . His Forest career to date consists of two games as an unused substitute, while Hutchinson featured for less than 10 minutes in total during matches with Crystal Palace and West Ham .

On Nuno's part, he had advocated for the signing of Adama Traore following the exit of Anthony Elanga; a player he knew well from his previous stint at Wolves . But Forest had reservations about replacing Elanga with an older player, particularly when it was unclear whether Traore fancied the move. Nuno also wanted cover in the full-back areas and in goal.

However, the club's top brass felt there were mixed signals when they started to deliver on his request to ensure the club were equipped with two players for each position. The Portuguese coach has traditionally worked with smaller squads, notably during his most successful stint in English football, at Wolves.

In truth, there looked to be no way back for Nuno after he went public on the power shift at Forest, citing that his relationship with Marinakis, the club's owner, had 'changed' during an explosive press conference prior to the international break.

Marinakis' decision to part ways with a head coach who was in the conversation for last season's Manager of the Year award will be scrutinised after Nuno exceeded all expectations to steer the club back into Europe.

But the turmoil behind the scenes meant that something simply had to give, and, in this instance, it was Nuno.

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