Nottingham Forest said no to signing striker Stuart Pearce wanted for £20k, now he’s worth over 600x more

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Nottingham Forest have made some bargain signings in recent transfer windows, but one cheap deal that Stuart Pearce wanted to make never occurred.

A big part of Forest’s European push this season has been the success of some of Evangelos Marinakis’ top signings, including Nikola Milenkovic’s signing from Fiorentina.

Milenkovic cost Forest £13m and has become a staple of Nuno Espirito Santo’s defence, starting 23 Premier League games alongside Murillo, who himself was another cut-price deal.

Joining from Corinthians, Jamie Redknapp labelled Murillo a bargain in what was only his second Premier League game, with Murillo and Milenkovic now compared to Arsenal’s top defence thanks to their contributions to Forest becoming one of the top defensive sides in the country.

Their small transfer fees only add to how highly the Forest owner will think of the centre-backs, but Forest fans with good memories will think back to over a decade ago, when another bargain deal that Forest legend Pearce wanted to complete was turned down.

Stuart Pearce wanted to sign Che Adams for just £20k

With Forest keeping hold of Taiwo Awoniyi as the only alternative to Chris Wood, it’s easy to think about what could of been in terms of more prolific strikers that have been linked with a move to the City Ground.

One of which is Scottish star Che Adams, who Pearce was desperate to sign for Forest when he was manager of the club in 2014.

Reflecting on the failed business when talking to The Athletic, Pearce said: “With Adams, you were talking about £20,000. Clubs like Forest should be mopping up young talent like that.”

It’s hard to argue with Pearce on the sentiment, as Sheffield United would eventually pick up Adams, a move that would see him score 12 goals in League One before moving to Birmingham City to star in the Championship.

Adams would then enjoy a number of steady seasons in the Premier League with Southampton before leaving England to sign for Torino, where his market value has levelled out to be a fee that puts Forest to shame when considering how cheap Pearce could’ve signed him for.

How much more Che Adams is now worth after Nottingham Forest blunder

It was Fawaz Al Hasawi who rejected Pearce’s move for Adams in what now looks to have been a rather ill advised decision, given how much the forward is now worth.

According to Transfermarkt, Adams is now worth £12.5m at Torino, over 600 times what Pearce wanted to pay for him in 2014, with his stats in Serie A showing just why.

Adams has scored seven times in the Italian top flight this season, whilst also providing two assists and creating 21 chances for the mid-table team.

He is also an incredibly hard working striker, making 35 successful recoveries and winning the ball back eight times in the final third this season.

Given that Pearce’s interest was in 2014, it’s unlikely to imagine Adams would’ve been featuring in Espirito Santo’s Forest squad today even if he was signed at the time, but it’s hard to not look back with some bitterness given how much of a bargain deal it could’ve been.