Nuno Espirito Santo is a surprise contender for a shock return to Wolves.

The former Molineux manager is one of the names under consideration by the club’s hierarchy, the PA news agency understands.

No high-level talks have taken place with the Portuguese, who is currently Al-Ittihad boss in Saudi Arabia.

There are several other candidates in the frame and Nuno is only a possibility rather than a certainty.

Former Under-23s coach Rob Edwards has been interviewed after the club were turned down by former Sevilla boss Julen Lopetegui for personal reasons this week.

Nuno originally moved to Molineux in 2017 and guided the club to the Championship title in 2018.

They twice finished seventh in the Premier League and reached the Europa League quarter-finals in 2019-20.

He was sacked 17 months ago and replaced by Bruno Lage, who lost his job last week with Wolves in the relegation zone.

Nuno had a brief spell at Tottenham but lasted just four months in north London and was dismissed in November last year.

Under-18 head coach Steve Davis is in interim charge at Molineux and lost his first game 3-0 at Chelsea last week.

They host Nottingham Forest on Saturday with both sides in the bottom three and just two wins between them this season.

Davis said: “Leading up to the World Cup is important, we have got an opportunity with five home games to make the most of them. We have got to be tough to beat, the opportunity is there.

“No-one is going to give you points, you have to work hard for them, we have emphasised that in the meeting. It’s not just going to happen.

“We have to turn our fortunes around by being better. The way the league looks at the moment it puts a bit more on the game.

“We want to change our performances and be more of a threat in the game. Every game is crucial and important. Because of the state of the two teams, both battling for points, it puts more of an emphasis on it.”

Ruben Neves returns from suspension while Nathan Collins is still banned. Boubacar Traore is back after illness but Sasa Kalajdzic (knee) and Raul Jimenez (groin) are out.