Vitor Pereira worked wonders with the players at his disposal since he arrived at Nottingham Forest in February.
Forest survived relegation with two games to spare and also reached the semi-final of the Europa League under the Portuguese head coach.
With Atalanta preparing a move for Nicolo Savona, how would you rate his time at Nottingham Forest?
Elliot Anderson is linked with Manchester City at the moment, but when it comes to star players, Murillo has penned a new contract, whilst Evangelos Marinakis wants to keep Morgan Gibbs-White.
Some fringe players will likely depart, however, and now one player who Pereira hasn’t been able to pick yet has given the green light to leave Forest this summer.
Nicolo Savona gives green light to Atalanta
According to Alfredo Pedulla, Savona has told his representatives that he’s satisfied with the proposal from Atalanta and wants to go back to Italy.
The Reds landed Savona for £11 million from Juventus last summer and he made 20 appearances for Forest, scoring against Liverpool and Manchester United in the Premier League.
Despite looking pretty solid when he was called upon, knee surgery ended his season prematurely and ensured he wasn’t available at all when Pereira came in.
Savona now looks set to return to Italy with Atalanta, who will be playing in Europe next season, with Forest looking to bring players of their own in.
Savona’s departure further depletes the squad in the full-back area, and it looks logical that Pereira will be looking to strengthen this area.
Forest need a different sort of full-back
The Reds letting Savona leave represents a small shift in what Pereira is looking to achieve from his team going forward.
Savona definitely did a job for Forest last season, but there is a sense that perhaps Pereira wants a player more akin to Ola Aina when it comes to a backup option.
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Forest will have to have a better squad this season when it comes to the backup options, and full-backs are getting close to being a priority.
Hopefully, the Reds can recoup for Savona what was paid 12 months ago and then put it towards an option more tailored towards what Pereira wants in an ideal world from his full-backs.
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