Everton on the brink of securing Nuno Espirito Santo as the club’s new manager

Nuno Espirito Santo is on the brink of becoming Everton’s new manager and will be formally offered the position this weekend.

After an exhaustive 12 days following the departure of Carlo Ancelotti, Farhad Moshiri – Everton’s major shareholder who has been driving the recruitment process – is preparing to put an offer in writing to the Portuguese.

Nuno, who held lengthy talks with Crystal Palace about succeeding Roy Hodgson, is excited about the opportunity and potential at Goodison Park and it is not envisaged there will be any late stumbling blocks that would lead to the deal falling down.

It had been intimated that there were issues surrounding the financial package for Nuno and his coaching entourage but Moshiri, who has never been afraid to dig deep, has put together a package that is attractive to the 47-year-old.

Moshiri has considered – and, in several cases, spoken to – many managers, or their representatives, since Ancelotti quit to join Real Madrid with some of the names including Rafa Benitez, the former Liverpool boss, Manuel Pellegrini, once of Manchester City and West Ham, and Paolo Fonseca.

Christopher Galtier, who led Lille to Ligue 1 success, was also on a list that had been put together by Marcel Brand, Everton’s director of football.

Earlier this week, Vitor Perreria – who at one stage was favourite to replace Marco Silva when Moshiri sacked him in December 2019 – was put forward as an option, while David Moyes was also strongly considered but his decision to sign a new contract with West Ham brought the situation into focus.

The process is now reaching a conclusion and bar a late twist, it is now heading to a point where Nuno could be officially announced by Everton early next week.