Nottingham Forest enjoyed a very positive transfer window this summer with a refreshing change of strategy clearly evident.
The Reds landed 11 new players with two of them – David Carmo and Marko Stamenic – joining Olympiacos on a season-long loan.
It’s fair to say that the new signings have settled in well. Elliot Anderson joined from Newcastle for £35 million and has been praised by Alan Shearer already.
Elsewhere, James Ward-Prowse has joined from West Ham on loan, with Alex Moreno coming to the City Ground as the other domestic loan option in the Forest squad.
Jota Silva and Ramon Sosa have provided some much-needed energy in reserve and the pair have already bagged their first goals for the club.
Perhaps the best deal of the lot for Forest has been Nikola Milenkovic and Henry Winter raved about him for his efforts against Chelsea.
Other targets fell by the wayside in the summer but nonetheless, the window proved a roaring success from a Forest perspective.
Nottingham Forest made £4m bid for Aston Villa youngster
Not every target Forest made advances for came to fruition. Santiago Gimenez is the obvious one in that sense, informing Forest of his final decision days before the deadline.
Oliver Glasner also talked Eddie Nketiah into a move to Crystal Palace, despite it seeming for a long time as though the Arsenal man would head to Forest.
According to The Athletic, Forest also wanted to sign Lamare Bogarde from Aston Villa in a deal worth £4 million – but couldn’t get anything over the line.
The Reds were keen to tie up a deal quickly to sign the Dutch player from Villa and it soon became apparent that the player had a choice to make ahead of the new season.
In the end, Villa opted to sign him up to a new contract to keep him at Villa Park and this season hasn’t started too badly for him.
He’s featured twice in the Premier League for Unai Emery this season and played the full 90 minutes as Villa thrashed Young Boys in their maiden Champions League clash.
Bogarde would have been useful Forest signing
Had Forest snared the central defender from Aston Villa, it’s fair to say that he would have been a regular in the matchday squad.
Forest have Nikola Milenkovic and Murillo playing in the centre-back positions right now, with Willy Boly and Morato providing competition from the bench.
Bogarde would have been part of something at Forest though and perhaps opportunities would have been more forthcoming at the City Ground.
Still, it’s hard to knock a player wanting to stay and play in the Champions League and given he’s made an appearance in that competition, he’s justified his decision.
This does prove that Forest are shopping in the right markets though. Bogarde is a talented youngster and these sorts of signings will excite far more than signing old players with their best days firmly behind them.
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