Nottingham Forest enjoyed a low-key transfer deadline day as Nuno Espirito Santo stuck his faith in the group of players who have led the team to third in the Premier League.
Joel Ndala was added at the eleventh hour by Forest. However, there is little to suggest that he will play with the first team and perhaps he will spend his loan spell with the B-Team.
The Reds did manage to get some players cleared off the decks during the window which proved a bonus. Emmanuel Dennis joined Blackburn on loan for the remainder of the campaign with others departing throughout the window.
Joe Gardner was sent off on his debut for Lincoln on Saturday. Elsewhere, Esapa Osong also headed out with the striker returning from Rotherham and heading to Cambridge instead.
Lewis O’Brien stars for Swansea City during loan debut
O’Brien was another player who left Forest in the transfer window, with Swansea fighting off a number of other clubs to bring the midfielder to the football club.
The 26-year-old has been craving regular football for a little while. He spent the first half of the campaign on loan in the MLS with Los Angeles FC but they were unable to make that move permanent.
That opened the door for a number of Championship outfits to make their move. Derby wanted O’Brien at one point but Forest doing business with the Rams did feel very unlikely.
On Sunday he made a brilliant opening appearance for Swansea. The Welsh outfit won 1-0 to get a first three points of 2025, with O’Brien scoring seven out 10 for his efforts.
Wales Online also claimed that he offered ‘encouraging evidence’ of being able to fulfil the duties of a stereotypical number eight and bring box-to-box qualities to the team.
Forest need to sell O’Brien this summer
O’Brien will feel somewhat aggrieved at how his time at Forest has panned out. He made 14 appearances during the first half of 2022/23 but was then omitted from the 25-man squad for the second half of the season.
As a result, he’s been forced into a number of loan spells with clubs unable to buy him for the £10 million that Forest paid for him or sanction the salary that he earns at the City Ground.
The summer has to be the time when Forest cut their losses. Loaning him out is making little sense to anyone and hopefully, a positive few months with Swansea will prompt them into a purchase.
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