Nottingham Forest will always looking for an opportunity to capitalise upon in the transfer window and one may have just appeared around one of Evangelos Marinakis’ top targets.
The January transfer window proved that it is no secret that Marinakis is desperate to improve one position in particular, as Forest will target a striker in the summer having spent all of January in pursuit of support for Chris Wood.
Wood arguably eased any concerns Nuno Espirito Santo might have about the position when he scored a hattrick against Brighton, leading to Wood receiving praise from Jude Bellingham.
Even Marco Silva hailed Wood’s performance against Fulham on Saturday despite the defeat, making it clear that if Forest are to spend money to support Wood, the incoming striker must have a level of quality that can match the New Zealand international.
This quality will obviously come at quite a cost but with Forest registering a £16m net spend this season, there is room to manoeuvre for the right target, who may have just been made easier to attain based on the latest financial update from his current club.
Brentford post loss amid Nottingham Forest’s interest in Yoane Wissa
Forest will benefit from PSR rules being extended as their £67m loss from the 2022/23 season will be removed from consideration, giving Marinakis a window to spend to improve Espirito Santo’s Forest squad.
A striker seems the most likely position to spend on and Yoane Wissa’s links with Forest could well return in the summer. This is especially likely given that Wissa’s parent club, Brentford, have just published their official accounts for the previous year.
According to the official Brentford website, the club’s operating loss was £29.2m but when football finance expert, Kieran Maguire, looked into the numbers, the loss was even bigger.
Maguire had the underlying loss at a figure of £35m, heavily down to the club’s rising player wages which will be something Forest will have to contend with as Wood and Murillo signed new contracts.
How Brentford deal with these losses remains to be seen but one obvious option would be to sell high-value stars such as Wissa, especially given the value that was placed on the Congolese forward in January.
Selling Yoane Wissa would correct Brentford’s financial woes
According to reports at the time, Brentford want £40m for Wissa which now makes complete sense given the confirmed loss at the club.
Forest reportedly bid £18m for Wissa in January which never looked likely to be accepted by any means but the publically available financial situation at Brentford will now give Forest a clear path as to how to secure the striker who has 11 goals this season so far.
Especially given that the City Ground redevelopment has been delayed until 2026, the Forest owner will have the available wiggle room in his budget to return for Wissa at a fee close to that £35m figure that Brentford need to break even on the spreadsheet.
Forest were never close to signing Wissa in January, but the story is certainly one to look out for given how feasible the deal could be for both sides involved.
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