Chris Wood has been the man in red-hot form for Nottingham Forest this season picking up where he left off during 2023/24.
The striker signed for Forest for £15 million and Newcastle boss Eddie Howe admitted that he didn’t really want to offload Wood.
Forest included a clause in a loan deal to sign the striker that the move would become permanent after three starts. It’s fair to say that was met with angst from supporters who felt it was way over the odds.
But, Wood hasn’t been bothered by any early reservations from the fan base. Last season, he scored 15 goals in all competitions and Forest managed to stay in the Premier League because of his strikes.
This season, he’s picked up where he left off too. Last weekend, Wood scored his fourth of the season in the Premier League draw at Chelsea and drew praise from Ally McCoist for his efforts.
Wood bagged another goal for New Zealand in a game against Tahiti over the weekend and he’s loving life under Nuno Espirito Santo.
Nottingham Forest striker Chris Wood on working with Nuno Espirito Santo
It’s been claimed recently that Forest are going to offer Wood a new contract. He will be a free agent in the summer and the Reds aren’t ready to let him walk away for nothing just yet.
Wood will be 33-years-old in December, however, and might be forgiven for thinking about what comes next once the days of playing professional football are behind him.
The in-form talisman has welcomed life under Espirito Santo on Trentside and he’s shared what he thinks the Forest head coach is so brilliant at that has helped him at the City Ground.
He told The New Zealand Herald: “It’s faith from the manager. Everybody likes to have faith shown in them, it’s where players do their best work on the pitch.
“I wouldn’t say he took a chance on me, but at the beginning, he put me in and it worked well for both of us.
“And then from now on, it’s just about trying to repay the faith that he has shown in me. I like to think we’ve got a good working relationship. He’s a great manager, he works hard and he’s worked really well for me so far. Long may it continue.”
New contract inevitable for Wood at Forest
It’s great to hear that Forest are weighing up a new deal for Wood and it would be deserved ten times over for the club’s main talisman.
After injuring his groin after a handful of games in 2023, it was anticipated that he might not feature much during last season but that’s been far from the truth.
He was the top scorer last season and from the moment Espirito Santo came to the club in December, it’s been clear that he favours him over Taiwo Awoniyi.
Forest are a club still trying to firmly establish itself as a Premier League outfit and as a result, it’s important that the best players are kept around the City Ground.
Letting Wood leave at the end of the season would be a mistake at this moment in time and handing him an extension is a complete no-brainer at this stage.
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