Credit: Imago

James Barker

Tue 5 May 2026 10:10, UK

Nuno Espirito Santo could recreate his Championship-winning Wolves team of 2017-18 with West Ham United if the Hammers are relegated and he sticks around.

With just three games left to play this season, West Ham are now staring at the possibility of Championship football in 2026-27.

Indeed, their defeat to Brentford and Tottenham’s respective win over Aston Villa has thrown Nuno’s side back into the bottom three.

Arsenal visit the London Stadium on Sunday, before clashes with Newcastle and Leeds United respectively ensure that if the Hammers are to survive, they’re going to have to do it the hard way.

Should they be relegated this season, it remains to be seen whether West Ham would be looking for a new manager or not, as Nuno does have some impressive credentials at second-tier level.

How good were Nuno Espirito Santo’s 2017-18 Wolves team?

West Ham reportedly want to keep Nuno as their manager even if the team are relegated this term, with the ball seemingly being in the 52-year-old’s court over his London Stadium future.

If he does decide that he wants to stay on, then the Hammers hierarchy are sure to back him in the transfer market this summer, with an obvious remit of winning an instant return back to the Premier League.

That would be a significant coup for West Ham too, as despite Nuno only ever having one season’s worth of experience managing in the Championship, it was in charge of one of the best second-tier sides ever seen.

His 2017-18 Wolves team won the division with 99 points that year, scoring 82 goals and conceding only 39, and some of the players he had at his disposal? You may not believe they played for him in the Championship.

Ruben Neves, Willy Boly, Matt Doherty, the late Diogo Jota, Conor Coady, Ivan Cavaleiro, Morgan Gibbs-White respectively; all of these players turned out for Wolves in the Championship that term.

Then you had other players like Helder Costa, Leo Bonatini, Benik Afobe, Romain Saiss, John Ruddy and Barry Douglas respectively; no wonder Wanderers won the league.

West Ham would be well-placed to repeat Wolves’ success

When you look at this current West Ham team, there is either so much potential for a number of quality players to follow the team into the Championship, or vast sums of money to be raised for a big summer rebuild if not.

Players like Taty Castellanos, Pablo, Mateus Fernandes and El Hadji Malick Diouf respectively have only just joined the Hammers, and could feel a sense of loyalty not to abandon ship after one season.

Then you’ve got stars such as Jarrod Bowen and Crysencio Summerville, both of whom have shone in the Championship previously, and particularly with Bowen, may feel a similar sense of obligation to bring the Hammers back to the Premier League.

If not, or should West Ham be financially unable to keep them, then they will be able to bank big paydays on a host of players, and that could hand Nuno a massive war chest to go to work with during the summer.

Mads Hermansen would also surely be content with staying for a second-tier trip so long as he’s guaranteed the number one role between the sticks, giving Nuno a top-class goalkeeper at that level too.

West Ham won’t be able to get rid of everybody if they do down, and as mentioned, some may not wish to abandon ship either, whilst Nuno knows exactly what it takes to construct not just a winning team, but a super team at Championship level.

Bring on relegation then! No, of course not. Let’s hope that it doesn’t have to come to that, but if it does and Nuno stays, 2026-27 could see the Hammers smash the second tier.