West Ham want Nottingham Forest player who hasn’t yet played under Sean Dyche

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It feels like West Ham are being linked with every centre-back under the sun, and now Nuno Espirito Santo is eyeing a surprise raid on Nottingham Forest.

Espirito Santo fell out with Edu at the start of the season, and that led to the head coach being sacked after three matches, freeing him up to take the West Ham job.

Forest beat West Ham in the last round of Premier League matches to go seven points clear of their nearest relegation rivals, with Espirito Santo facing a fight to avoid the sack again.

Although the head coach has been handed two new strikers in this transfer window, it’s the goals conceded that are hampering West Ham and new defenders are the order of the day.

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West Ham want Nottingham Forest defender Willy Boly

According to a reputable West Ham source, Boly has emerged as a target for the Hammers as they look to shore up their leaky rearguard this month.

The Ivorian defender has barely played for Forest this season and looks unlikely to be registered in the Premier League squad for the second half of the 2025/26 campaign.

Boly signed for Forest shortly after winning promotion to the Premier League and it’s fair to say that he’s more than proved his worth to the club over the years.

The 34-year-old has made 47 appearances for the club, scoring three goals and helping the team make the Europa League last season with a seventh-placed finish.

In truth, the decision to extend Boly’s contract by another year was a curious one, although it did make a bit of sense with the extra games that Forest would have in Europe this season.

Forest should be mindful of letting Boly go to West Ham

If Boly goes to West Ham and helps them stay in the Premier League, it could be at the expense of Forest and that makes this move a little bit risky.

That said, Boly will want to play regular football and it perhaps does feel a little bit pointless to let him remain at the club if he’s not even going to be registered for the squad.

With just a few months remaining on his existing deal, Boly isn’t going to fetch a huge transfer fee for Forest and perhaps letting him leave is the way forward.

However, Espirito Santo will be up for the fight of getting one over Forest and letting him sign Boly is something the club must seriously think about before pressing ahead.