Rui Pedro Silva has been announced as West Ham’s new assistant manager, as Paco Jémez departs the club.

Silva, 49, worked alongside Hammers boss Nuno Espírito Santo at Porto, Wolves and Nottingham Forest, and now joins him in East London. He was assistant coach when Nuno guided Wolves to Premier League promotion in 2018 and will hope to do the same with the Irons this season.

The appointment of Silva has been met with excitement among West Ham fans, who are glad to see that Nuno has finally brought his right-hand man in. Although it will be disappointing to see the popular Paco Jémez leave London Stadium, Silva has a long and fruitful relationship with the current West Ham boss.

Silva has mainly served as an assistant coach throughout his career. The only notable exception came when he was manager of Portuguese side Famalicão after Nuno left Wolves in 2021. Interestingly, that is the same team Gustavo Sá plays for. West Ham have been heavily linked with the 21-year-old recently. Sá never played under Silva, but he was part of the club’s youth setup at the time.

Given Nuno’s links through agent Jorge Mendes and Silva’s links through his former club, West Ham should be in a great position to persuade the young Portuguese midfielder to make the switch to Stratford.

Silva joins Steve Potts, Gerard Prenderville, Billy Lepine, Rui Barbosa and Jordan Smith as part of Nuno’s backroom staff. Mark Robson will return to his previous role as the Academy of Football’s Senior Professional Development Phase Coach/U21s Lead Coach.

Slowly but surely, the pieces seem to be coming together. Now, West Ham need to sign some talent and hold onto their key players.