Nottingham Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo enjoyed another transfer window where he managed to keep hold of his top stars for a few more months.
Morgan Gibbs-White was linked with Liverpool during the January transfer window. Elsewhere, Chelsea tried their best to prise Murillo to Stamford Bridge before the window slammed shut.
Forest stood firm though and kept hold of their top stars. Evangelos Marinakis wanted a new striker but was left frustrated in his attempts to truly strengthen the squad during January.
Still, with Forest in third place, it was important to keep the current crop on Trentside. The Reds have 14 games left to secure a place in Europe for next season and the hope will be that another good run began with last weekend’s 7-0 win over Brighton.
Some players were allowed out on loan during the January window. Joe Gardner, Esapa Osong and Ben Perry departed from the B-Team on EFL loan spells, whilst Lewis O’Brien and Emmanuel Dennis joined Swansea and Blackburn respectively.
Nuno Espirito Santo shares why James Ward-Prowse left Forest
It perhaps came as a bit of a shock when it was announced that Ward-Prowse would return to West Ham. The Reds had seen the midfielder make 10 appearances for the club but against Brighton, he wasn’t in the 20-man squad.
Ward-Prowse has been give a new opportunity at West Ham with Graham Potter replacing Julen Lopetegui as the club’s new head coach.
Espirito Santo has confessed that the situation with Ward-Prowse wasn’t easy. Clearly, there is a lot of mutual respect there but Forest simply had too many options to justify keeping him at the club.
He said in his press conference: “It was very hard because since James came in he was a big help for us. I had the chance to speak to him and explain that it wasn’t an easy situation and every game he played he helped us. There was a moment where he was not playing and then his parent club told us that their intention was to call for him and the intention was that everybody felt that the decision was for the best for all parties.”
Ibrahim Sangare and Danilo will comfortably replace Ward-Prowse
It’s of testament to Forest that a player like Ward-Prowse wasn’t even making the matchday squad for the Reds. Sangare and Danilo both returned against Brighton and they will be like new signings.
There really is no point in keeping a player with Ward-Prowse’s experience at the club if he’s not going to feature at all. Forest also have Elliot Anderson, Nicolas Dominguez and Ryan Yates as options for the shirts in the middle of the park.
Ward-Prowse always held himself as a brilliant professional. He was excellent in the 1-0 win over Liverpool in September and also played well before his sending-off against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
A solid performance against Luton in the FA Cup couldn’t get him more Premier League minutes though and as a result, he now returns to West Ham with everyone’s best wishes – not least those of Espirito Santo.
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