West Ham player's partner posts furious message to Nuno Espirito Santo about his treatment

The partner of a relegated West Ham United player has criticised his treatment by manager Nuno Espirito Santo.

Nuno succeeded Graham Potter in September after the former Chelsea boss was sacked with the Hammers in the bottom two.

West Ham had won one and lost four of their first five Premier League matches.

Goalkeeper Alphonse Areola was an unused substitute for the first four matches and made his first appearance of the 2025-26 season in a home defeat against Crystal Palace.

Areola played the next 19 league matches as Nuno gradually turned the Hammers into a more difficult team to beat.

They took their survival fight into the last day of the season but were relegated despite doing their bit by beating Leeds United.

Areola sat on the bench for the last 14 games. The French international was dropped for West Ham's trip to Burnley in February after two wins in three games, with Mads Hermansen coming into the line-up and staying there.

After Areola watched his team win their final fixture in vain, his wife, Marrion, took to Instagram Stories to express her view on the Portuguese coach and his predecessor.

"From a trophy to relegation," she posted, referring to West Ham's Conference League success in 2022-23 under manager David Moyes.

"Thank you Potter for the start of the season and Nuno for the end.

"Being dropped at the beginning of the season for no reason... Being back after a very bad start and then has made 20 games and all of the sudden, 'I'm really sorry, you won't start... for no particular reason but I'm sorry.'"

Areola left out of the France squad for World Cup 2026

The West Ham goalkeeper's wife appeared to blame his club manager for Areola's omission from the France squad for World Cup 2026, which begins in the United States, Canada and Mexico next month.

"And NO World Cup this year thank you coach Nuno," she said.

Areola was part of Didier Deschamps' World Cup-winning squad in Russia in 2018, though he didn't make an appearance.

Les Bleus reached the final again in 2022, with Steve Mandanda deputising for captain Hugo Lloris and Areola again an unused squad member.

Lloris retired after World Cup 2022 but Deschamps has selected AC Milan's Mike Maignan, Robin Risser of Lens and former Nottingham Forest man Brice Samba as his goalkeepers.

Areola hasn't been called up since September. In all, he has made five senior international appearances since his debut in 2018.