Nottingham Forest enjoyed a very useful transfer window and now the expectation is that the club will improve this season.
Forest have been the subject of ridicule from outsiders since returning to the Premier League in 2022 following a number of hectic transfer windows.
This summer was different though with emphasis placed on quality over quantity, lowering the average age of the squad and signing young players with resale value.
Forest didn’t manage to sign a new striker but that was on the advice of Nuno Espirito Santo who advised Evangelos Marinakis to keep his chequebook closed.
The Reds have been doing great things under the Marinakis family and Miltiadis reacted to the club’s new training ground plans on social media recently.
Naturally, it will always be the transfer business that the Forest owner is judged on and thankfully, this summer looks like the one where he’s hit the jackpot on a number of deals.
Nottingham Forest told they made a really ‘clever’ signing this summer
The Reds have come under scrutiny for their transfer policy in recent years and some of the takes before this season were somewhat lazy.
Many of the old methods were still being considered when in reality the club’s signings this summer have made a lot of sense.
The Reds were critiqued by Ian Ladyman of the Daily Mail and he was quizzed by Chris Sutton on his early season claims.
He’s backed down somewhat on his notion that Forest would struggle because of a lack of a transfer plan – which is just completely wrong.
Ladyman has praise for one signing in particular and feels he’s a smart addition to the ranks.
He told the It’s All Kicking Off podcast: “It’s interesting, last season, Forest used a core of about 20 players who played a significant amount of games. That figure is down to 15 so it’s down a quarter already so it shows that Nuno Espirito Santo has got a much better idea of what he wants to do, he’s got a more reliable and predictable line-up.
“In terms of the players that are mentioned in the post, Milenkovic the defender bought from Fiorentina has done very, very well, as has Moreno on loan from Villa. The other two Jota Silva and Sosa haven’t started a game in the Premier League between them yet so we will wait there but Elliot Anderson is a really clever signing.
“Also Nuno has put some faith in players he already had. We know all about Murillo who is a great-looking centre-back and player – I wonder how long he will be at Forest. But also, Matz Sels the goalkeeper who they got in January but as we saw against Chelsea he’s really stepped up this season.
“There’s also Chris Wood. Nuno has decided Wood is the one he wants up front and he’s coming through for him. The whole thing just feels a bit more settled.”
Forest deserve respect for their summer transfer drive
Okay, so Forest – and Marinakis – have made mistakes but the owner has now learned from them and put the right people in the right positions.
George Syrianos is the man behind the recruitment these days and he is renowned for making quality additions to the squad.
Anderson was a brilliant signing made by Forest and it was nice to see the club take advantage of another Premier League outfit and not vice versa.
The young midfielder has showcased his quality in a number of positions and it already feels like being the ‘clever’ addition that Ladyman has predicted.
There is, of course, still work to do at Forest. The window just gone, however, is a benchmark for the future and exciting times look to be ahead.
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