Nuno on the brink: Could Spurs chiefs ditch under-fire Tottenham boss already?

Nuno Espirito Santo risks becoming the third Premier League boss to lose his job this season after senior Tottenham officials reportedly held talks over his future.

Former Wolves head coach Nuno signed a two-year deal to take over as Spurs boss at the end of June following four largely successful years in charge at Molineux.

However, Tottenham fans turned on the Portuguese during Saturday’s 3-0 Premier League defeat at home to Manchester United, with his decision to substitute Lucas Moura for Steven Bergwijn greeted by chants of “You don’t know what you’re doing”.

After Watford sacked Xisco Munoz and Newcastle United parted company with Steve Bruce, Tottenham could follow suit by making a change at the top.

Should they do so, that would make them the first members of the ‘big six’ to change their manager this season.

According to BBC Sport and several national newspapers, chairman Daniel Levy and managing director of football Fabio Paratici have spoken about the 47-year-old’s future.

Tottenham sit eighth in the English top flight, having won five and lost five of their opening 10 matches of the season, with a goal difference of minus seven.

Should Nuno depart before next weekend, his 10 Premier League games at the helm would be the fewest of any permanent Tottenham manager. Jacques Santini managed 11 games in 2004.

Tottenham began the season with three successive 1-0 wins, including an opening-weekend victory over champions Manchester City.

However, they have drastically lost their way of late, and as well as the miserable defeat to a Manchester United side who were also perceived as being in crisis, there have been four London derby losses for Spurs fans to swallow.

Nuno’s team have been beaten by Crystal Palace, West Ham, Chelsea and their bitter north London rivals Arsenal.

Uncertainty over star man Harry Kane’s future appeared to be a distraction during the early weeks of Nuno’s tenure, until the England captain announced he would be staying at Tottenham.

Already, Paulo Fonseca has been linked with Tottenham again. The former Roma and Shakhtar Donetsk boss was a contender for the job during the close season before Nuno was eventually appointed, the club taking a circuitous route to settling on the appointment after considering a host of options.

Fonseca has also recently been linked with the Newcastle United job following their takeover by a wealthy Saudi Arabian investment fund.

Tottenham’s next match is a Europa Conference League home fixture against Vitesse on Thursday.