Nottingham Forest made significant investments into the playing squad this summer, but one Champions League sporting director is already suggesting that one signing will regret the move.
Forest spent over £200m on talent to essentially build two starting XIs, allowing flexibility for when the Reds play in Europe as well as the Premier League.
Omari Hutchinson signed for Forest for £37m in what was a club-record deal, a fee that was nearly beaten on deadline day when Forest signed Dilane Bakwa from Strasbourg.
A number of these deals saw the Reds battling with sides across Europe to secure their targets, with one of these rival clubs now hinting that a Forest summer signing made the wrong choice.
Dan Ndoye may regret joining Nottingham Forest
Before Hutchinson, Forest’s £34m capture of Dan Ndoye was the club’s record signing, arriving at the end of July to bolster the wide areas.
The deal was far from simple to complete, though, as Napoli rivalled Forest for Ndoye throughout the process. Ndoye ultimately chose Forest and the Premier League, a decision that is clearly still irking the Serie A champions.
According to former Bologna and Rangers goalscorer Marco Negri, the player himself may be regretting his choice, due to the grandeur of what Napoli could’ve offered.
He said to Area Napoli: “His salary and the fact that he plays in the Premier League were important [in choosing Forest. Serie A is no longer what it was in the 2000s, Bologna pushed to make as much money as possible to reinvest the amount.
“Ndoye had a great opportunity to play in the Champions League with Napoli and to work with a coach like Conte, with whom he would have grown.”
The pull of Antonio Conte has clearly been effective this summer with the likes of Kevin De Bruyne signing for Napoli, but Ndoye was clear in his intentions to join the Reds. He may now have a fight on his hands to keep hold of his position in the starting XI, though.
Dan Ndoye will be wary of Dilane Bakwa’s impressive cameos
It looked as if Ndoye was the natural replacement for Anthony Elanga when he started on the right as the only new signing featuring from the off on the opening day of the season.
However, since that win over Brentford, Forest have continued to strengthen out wide, with Bakwa in particular looking like a threat to Ndoye’s starting spot.
Forest fans were impressed by Bakwa in the 3-2 defeat to Swansea City on Wednesday, as the Frenchman looked to be a level above Ndoye in terms of creativity.
Therefore, it will be interesting to see if Ange Postecoglou prefers the creativity of Bakwa or the stronger goalscoring threat of the Swiss international.
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