Evangelos Marinakis will be kicking himself as £10m Nottingham Forest transfer mistake is revealed

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Nottingham Forest’s transfer business has been gathering pace, but Evangelos Marinakis must be looking back with frustration over a missed opportunity that has cost him £10m.

A back-up goalkeeper looks to be next through the door at the City Ground, with Forest agreeing a deal to sign Angus Gunn for free in what looks to be a wise addition.

More exciting news is that Forest are closing in on Douglas Luiz, with an agreement with Juventus looking set to be structured as a loan with an obligation to buy the Brazilian.

Marinakis will undoubtedly be delighted to get the Luiz deal done given how long Forest have been linked with him, but another piece of business this summer may have left the Greek businessman rueing a past mistake.

Nottingham Forest had the chance to sign Dan Ndoye in 2024

While we await confirmation of the Luiz deal, Forest’s signing of Dan Ndoye remains the most exciting piece of business of the summer.

The Swiss international signed a five-year deal at Forest after a £34m fee was agreed with Bologna, becoming the club’s record transfer.

However, according to a report by The Athletic, Forest actually had the opportunity to pull the trigger on signing Ndoye back in 2024, for a much smaller fee.

The report said: “The deal taking Ndoye to Forest was complicated by competition from Napoli and Juventus, and Bologna driving a tough bargain for their star winger, who eventually cost £35million ($47.5m).

“Eventually crawling over the line in the last week of July, the move had been in the ether for a year. Ndoye was offered to Forest in 2024 for around £25million, but they were not in a financial position to make the move.”

Clearly, the Reds were closer to the PSR limits last season so a deal couldn’t be done, but spending £10m more to secure Ndoye the following summer must be frustrating for Marinakis.

Not for Ndoye, though, as the report revealed an insight into how he has planned his career to ensure that the step up into the Premier League has come at the right time.

Dan Ndoye benefitted from not joining Nottingham Forest in 2024

On stats alone, it’s clear to see that Ndoye remaining in Serie A for one more season benefitted his growth as a player.

His most productive season to date clearly triggered Forest to re-explore a deal for Ndoye, with the extra time in Italy clearly part of the winger’s carefully planned career.

The report continued: “From his perspective, too, last summer might not have been the right time to make the move.

“He has always been cautious about planning his career, looking for the next level but recognising it is better to take relatively small steps and play regularly to develop and improve, rather than go for bigger leaps and get lost in the shuffle.”

Ndoye could’ve found himself behind Anthony Elanga in the pecking order last season, but that extra wait has now seen him join Forest with everything set up for him to star.