Many football fans from the newer generation will probably not know this, but Nottingham Forest are one of the more successful English clubs in the UEFA Champions League, having won the competition twice, in 1979 and in 1980. After 2 decades of struggle, they are back in the Premier League and it seems they are destined for big things.
Based in Nottingham, founded in 1865, Forest are one of the oldest footbal clubs in the world. In fact the English Football League stated that Forest were now the oldest professional football league club, however there are some who contest this. They had their most successful period in the 1970s and 80s, however they got relagated 3 times from the Premier League in the 90s and they failed to come back until 2022, when they’ve defeated Huddersfield in the Playoffs. Their stadium is called City Ground and it has a capacity of about 30k.
Appointed in 2021, young manager Steve Cooper will most definitely have a hard time in the Premier League, however the board spending more than a €100mil and bringing in a good mix of experienced and young players helps a lot. Even though they lost versus Newcastle in their first match in the Prem for over 2 decades, they managed to beat West Ham in the 2nd matchday.
Arrivals
Some very big names coming in. First one that pops up is promising English midfielder(who is 29 now), Jesse Lingard, joining on a free from Manchester United. Even though he didn’t get a lot of chances to show his worth at the Old Trafford in recent years, his brief loan spell at West Ham showed that he is still a capable player.
Also from ManUtd, we have Dean Henderson joining on a free. The talented English keeper, 25, is an England international and will surely play a big part if Forest’s season, as shown by his second matchday heroics, when he saved Declan Rice’s penalty to earn 3 points for Forest against West Ham.
A couple more, even younger arrivals include record signing Taiwo Awoniyi. Previously owned by Liverpool, he joins after becoming Union Berlin’s top scorer last season, scoring 15 goals. Neco Williams joins from Liverpool to fill in at Right Back, English Left Back, Omar Richards joins from Bayern Munich, while Emmanuel Dennis, Striker, joins from relegated Watford.
The Reds also brought in experienced Swiss international, Remo Freuler, who spent his 6 seasons at Atalanta. The Central Midfielder played 46 times for Switzerland and wrapped up more than 250 apps for Atalanta, being a key feature them for the last half of decade. Premier League proven midfielder, Cheikhou Kouyate, 32, will most likely partner him in midfield.
Rumors of even more arrivals
With spending more than almost any top flight European club this summer, there are still a few players on the radar of Forest. Here are the top 5 rumored players.
| Name | Age | Position | Team | Value |
| Houssem Aouar | 24 | CM | Lyon | €25mil |
| Neal Maupay | 26 | ST | Brighton | €18mil |
| Ruslan Malinovskyi | 28 | CAM | Atalanta | €28mil |
| Tiemoué Bakayoko | 28 | CDM | Milan | €10mil |
| Morgan Gibbs-White | 22 | CAM | Wolves | €11mil |
While we believe Aouar would be a great fit for them(for most European teams really), we are a bit surprised about all the CAM rumors. Poor Jesse will find it hard to gain minutes again? On the other hand, Maupay makes a lot of sense, as he is a Premier League proven Striker. Speaking of Premier League proven, we are not a fan of Tiemoue Bakayoko.
Quite an interesting transfer window by Nottingham Forest so far. Are they having the best window of any newly promoted team?
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