West Ham United manager Nuno Espirito Santo in legal dispute with Nottingham Forest over sacking | OneFootball

West Ham United manager Nuno Espirito Santo has hired lawyers to take on his former club Nottingham Forest, according to The Athletic.

Nuno joined the London Stadium club after Forest sacked him at the beginning of the season.

Nuno left the City Ground club three-and-a-half months after signing a new three-year contract.

It is unknown whether the Hammers manager is in legal dispute with them over the financial terms of the deal.

He will be desperate to get one over his former club by ensuring he keeps West Ham up at their expense if possible.

Forest are 17th in the league table after 29 games, but they are only ahead of 18th-place Hammers due to a superior goal difference. Both teams are one point behind Tottenham Hotspur.

Nuno has managed to get West Ham impressing in recent weeks and will hope they can keep improving.

He helped Forest qualify for Europe for the first time in 30 years following a seventh-place finish last term, and keeping West Ham up would be huge.

A dispute with Forest’s global head of football Edu, and the breakdown of his relationship with owner Evangelos Marinakis over the summer ultimately led to his sacking last September.

West Ham hired him a few days later and will hope they made the right decision in the coming weeks.

They have won four of their last eight league fixtures, drawing two and losing two, and they have some tough league games ahead.

The Hammers return to Premier League action on March 14 when they host Manchester City before games against Aston Villa and Wolverhampton Wanderers.

They take on Crystal Palace, Everton, Brentford, Arsenal, Newcastle United and Leeds United in their final six league fixtures. They will need to produce some top performances to boost their survival chances.