Stoke boss offers very honest verdict on Nottingham Forest’s deadline day signing

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Nottingham Forest secured the signing of striker Sam Surridge on deadline day – and Stoke City boss Michael O’Neill has admitted he ‘struggled’ with the Potters.

Forest did sign a striker earlier in the window as Keinan Davis arrived on loan from Aston Villa.

Yet with Lyle Taylor loaned to Birmingham City and Lewis Grabban facing more than a month on the sidelines, Forest had to bring in another striker.

Steve Cooper struck on deadline day, securing the permanent signing of Stoke City striker Sam Surridge.

Surridge has joined Forest for a fee of £2.2million – a cut on the price Stoke paid to sign Surridge from Bournemouth last summer.

The Potters forked out around £2.5million rising to £5.5million for Surridge in August, meaning they’re taking a loss on the striker.

Surridge scored just four goals in 24 games for Stoke, starting only nine games across all competitions.

So just why are Forest bringing him to the City Ground?

Surridge has worked with Cooper in the past, joining forces at Swansea City in the 2019-20 season.

Surridge hit seven goals in 23 games under Cooper, and the Forest boss clearly feels he can get the best out of the 6ft 3in striker.

If Surridge can get back on track, Forest may well have a quality centre forward in their ranks for this season and beyond.

Stoke boss Michael O’Neill has now offered his take on Surridge’s time with the Potters, telling the Stoke Sentinel that he felt Surridge ‘struggled’.

O’Neill felt a permanent exit was the best thing to do, with Forest now hoping that he becomes a treasure at the City Ground.

“We bought Sam in the summer with a long-term objective and unfortunately it didn’t go as well as we’d hoped. The player struggled a bit to settle,” said O’Neill.

“He got off to a decent start, scored on his debut and the early games were very promising but his form suffered a little bit after that and I think generally he struggled to settle at the club. Sometimes that happens. When the opportunity came to do a permanent deal we thought it was the best thing to do for the club and the player. It was a good deal to be able to do at that point in time,” he added.