Nottingham Forest face Chelsea in the Premier League today, knowing that a win would guarantee the club a place in next season’s Europa League.
Forest might even squeeze into the Champions League with a win but would need help from either Manchester United at home to Aston Villa, or Everton away at Newcastle.
Still, it’s been a remarkable season for Forest and the summer looks like being a massive one, with the club now keen to build on this season and ensure European away days become the norm for the fan base.
Forest hit the jackpot last summer with the signings of Elliot Anderson and Nikola Milenkovic and more shrewd investments will likely be sought by the recruitment team when the window reopens.
Nottingham Forest can repeat Anthony Elanga trick this summer
One of the best pieces of transfer business in recent memory came when Forest paid £15 million to get Anthony Elanga to the City Ground from Manchester United in the summer of 2023.
Elanga has become one of the best young players in the country since signing for Forest and has managed 32 goal contributions during his two seasons at the football club.
United are a club in turmoil and after failing to win the Europa League, the club will now look to offload a number of star players, with European football off the table for next season.
According to The Athletic, Alejandro Garnacho is now available for transfer and as a result, Forest have a golden chance to repeat the transfer trick they made when Elanga signed almost two years ago.
Garnacho is only 20-years-old, the same age Elanga was when he signed for Forest, and the talent is there for all to see, given his form for United since breaking into the first team.
Despite an abject season for the Red Devils this season, Garnacho has still scored 11 goals and claimed 10 assists in all competitions, operating in all three positions behind the striker in a 4-2-3-1.
Forwards will definitely be in the sights of Forest this summer, with squad depth proving an issue in the final few weeks of the season for Nuno Espirito Santo to contend with.
What Anthony Elanga said about Alejandro Garnacho in 2022
During the 2021/22 campaign, Forest set up a date against Manchester United in the FA Youth Cup final at Old Trafford, with Garnacho on the brink of a first-team breakthrough.
After beating Leicester in the quarter-finals, Garnacho found himself on the end of some praise from Elanga, who was at United at the time, trying to get himself into Erik ten Hag’s good books.
The current Forest winger called Garnacho ‘incredible’ and clearly it was no secret in the United dressing room that a special player was about to come through the ranks at Old Trafford.
It’s not clear what the £53,000-a-week Garnacho will cost, or whether he’d be interested in a move to Forest, but if United are desperate to offload the forward, he definitely feels like a player that the Reds should be looking at this summer.
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