Nottingham Forest added three players to their ranks during the January transfer window.
Arne Engels was sought by Forest from Celtic, but a deal to sign him at the eleventh hour didn’t go through, and that ensured that Reds didn’t replace Douglas Luiz in the middle of the park.
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Lorenzo Lucca signed for Forest from Napoli, Stefan Ortega bolstered the goalkeeping ranks from Manchester City, whilst Luca Netz signed after the 7pm deadline, with a deal sheet submitted for the German.
The late nature of the Netz signing did offer Forest fans some unnerving times, with some naturally thinking back to 2020 when a 21-second situation saw the football club become the laughing stock of the country.
What Nottingham Forest did on deadline day in 2020
Back during the summer of 2020, Forest were trying to strengthen their squad under Chris Hughton, with the behind-closed-doors campaign in full swing.
After missing out on a play-off place on goal difference in 2019/20, Forest signed a host of players ahead of the 2020/21 campaign, and one man who the club desperately wanted was Kamil Grosicki.
The Poland international had made a name for himself in England with Hull and Forest wanting to take him on a deal from West Ham, submitting the paperwork at the eleventh hour on deadline day – or so the club thought.
Forest had messed the deal up considerably, with the powers that be submitting the paperwork 21 seconds after the deadline without the aid of a deal sheet.
The move left Forest scratching around to appeal the decision, which was rejected, and undoubtedly saw heads roll in the boardroom, with Evangelos Marinakis priding himself on a professional persona.
Given that Netz wasn’t announced ahead of the deadline, there was little doubt that the situation with the German had all of the hallmarks of a Grosicki 2.0 situation arising!
Forest learned lessons from Grosicki deal
Thankfully, Forest have grown since returning to the Premier League in 2022 with Marinakis placing trust in a number of people behind the scenes to ensure the admin side of things is spot on.
Forest have been stung in the past – as we saw with Grosicki – and thankfully, things are far more professional behind the scenes on Trentside these days.
Netz will now join up with his teammates for training at the City Ground and with this weekend’s Premier League game taking place on a Friday, he will have to step up quickly.
The 22-year-old will at least get the chance to don the famous Garibaldi, unlike Grosicki, who may often wonder what might have been had he signed for Forest.
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