Nottingham Forest have had some weird and wonderful players down the years with some enjoying more success than others.
As a historic football club, Forest supporters can count themselves very lucky to have a clutch of legends assembled over the years.
Despite winning trophies on a seemingly annual basis in the seventies, eighties and early nineties, recent times have been a little less glamorous.
Since returning to the Premier League in 2022, it’s been nice to have some quality players come to the club again but there have been some tough times.
Forest fell to the third tier at one point and it took the club three years to get back to the Championship; where more struggles were on the horizon.
Some of the players signed when Forest were either in League One or busy falling into it didn’t cut the mustard and would make up a hilarious compilation of signings that really didn’t work.
One of those was David Friio a signing from Plymouth and after a failed spell with Forest, he would go on and have a really intriguing job after football.
David Friio record at Nottingham Forest
Compile a list of the most hideous players to play for Forest and Friio would undoubtedly make the grade.
Friio signed for the club when Gary Megson was in charge and made 22 appearances during the 2004/05 campaign and made just five appearances as the Reds were relegated.
The following season saw him in and out of the team and in August 2006 he decided to call time on his playing career with injuries taking over.
Friio seriously struggled at Forest and failed to replicate the form he’d shown during a long spell at Plymouth where he’d become a firm fan favourite.
What came next for Friio is quite unthinkable…
David Friio unearthed Paul Pogba and Raphael Varane
After leaving Forest, Friio returned to France and started up a business within football, with the Reds making a phone call to him.
Colin Calderwood – the club’s new manager – was keen for Friio to come in and start scouting for Forest in France.
He proved instrumental in the signing of Guy Moussi and would eventually move on to work for Manchester United in a similar capacity.
The Manchester Evening News cites that whilst working at Old Trafford in 2009, Friio alerted Sir Alex Ferguson to a certain Paul Pogba.
The Reds would sign him as an academy starlet and he would later leave and then return for millions when United should have probably given him a chance anyway.
In 2011, Friio was at it again. This time he recommended Raphael Varane to United but they didn’t sign him and instead took him 10 years later when he was a Real Madrid player.
There have been other examples and Friio has made a serious name for himself as a scout in world football, working with other top clubs.
These days, it’s not clear what Friio is actually working on but it’s fair to say that his career after football has been far more glamorous than his short spell at Forest as a player was.
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