Nottingham Forest may have disposable income but the progress being made is very much evolution not revolution, regardless of what some might think.
Evangelos Marinakis is a very wealthy man and the Greek shipping magnate has kindly agreed to pour some of those riches into the Reds.
With such an offer on the table, is anybody going to turn him down? Of course not.
Forest have experienced life on the other side of the fence and in this instance the grass really is greener.
There have been times of trouble, transfer embargoes and owners who would rather have money in the bank than points on the board.
Pounds in the pot
During such periods, graduates from a famed academy system have found it easier to tread a path to the first team.
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That policy of developing home-grown produce has not, however, been deserted just because there are more pounds in the pot.
Preston boss Alex Neil told his club’s official website this week, ahead of a trip to the City Ground on Saturday: “For the last four or five years, Forest have been of a similar ilk to Preston North End, in terms of bringing some young players through, the likes of Joe Worrall, Ben Brereton, Ben Osborn and Matty Cash and these type of guys, but then they have chosen to go down a different route this season.
“They have shipped Joe Worrall out on loan, they have sold Ben Brereton and some of the other lads are perhaps not playing as much as they did in the past.
“That is because someone else has come in and decided they are going to go down a different route and they have bought really experienced players – the likes of Lewis Grabban, Ben Watson, [Adlene] Guedioura – they have an experienced and strong squad.
“Our injury problems are well documented and with Aitor there, they have someone who is experienced at getting teams out of this league. What he has done is assemble a squad with the knowledge and know-how of how to get out of it.
“Style always refers to the type of players you have available. They bought their Portuguese No. 10 who cost about £15 million, so they have plenty of quality in their team.”
Neil is not necessarily having a pop, merely calling things as he sees it, but there is an underlying suggestion that Forest are prepared to try and buy success this season.
Serious mess
That is simply not the case.
Major restructuring was required upon Aitor Karanka taking the reins, with years of mismanagement and poor recruitment having left him with a serious mess to clean up.
Funds were required, and they have been gratefully received.
The likes of Cash and Osborn have continued to see regular game time, though, while Worrall is only out on loan and there are high hopes for the next batch of talent dropping off the conveyor belt – Arvin Appiah, Virgil Gomis et al.
So while Forest may well be embracing a ‘different route’, they have not lost sight of the one which got them to this point.