Forest transfer spending is now one of the most discussed issues of the Premier League season and that 180m spent by Nottingham Forest in the summer has failed to bear fruit in the field. The thirteen new signings promised growth and consolidation upon their arrival following the spectacular seventh-placed finish in the previous season yet, Forest are 17th in the table, two points above relegation zone, and undecided on what to do in Europe. What seemed to be a step forward is now a struggle to stand ground.
To begin with, the unfiltered statistics are a cause of concern. Forest had spent heavily on the team, led by global sporting director Edu, with 11 permanent senior acquisitions and two of the highest-profile loans. The 37.5m transfer of Omari Hutchinson at 37.5m was a new club record with other high-profile signings including James McAtee, Arnaud Kalimuendo and Douglas Luiz coming to the club with a good reputation. However, the magnitude of transfer expenditure on Forest has not been effective though. The newcomers have only three having played over 10 Premier League games with some hardly playing at all.
Nevertheless, the situation surrounding such figures is important. The instability has influenced the season of Forest, and the club has had Sean Dyche, as the third manager following the exit of Nuno Espirito Santo and Ange Postecoglou. There are continuous shifting of tactical strategy, coaching personnel and demands and hence, new players always find it hard to adapt. Dyche himself acknowledged that in combining a hefty mixture of signings to a variety of competitions it was never going to be a smooth ride.
But there is only so much waiting and the frustration of Dyche has been evident. The questionable mentality of his fringe players was brought up by the manager after a 1-0 Europa League loss in Braga that saw Forest to have to win a play-off to make it to the last 16. He has a number of times urged the patients not in regular Premier League starting XI to history their chances. This was followed by similar criticism after the FA Cup penalty shootout defeat to Wrexham with Dyke speaking of the performance as a badge-deserving performance.
On the other hand, individual cases show inequity in Forest transfer spending returns. The most successful addition would be Igor Jesus who was signed by PS10m by Botafogo. His work rate and physical presence have been beneficial especially when Chris Wood is injured but the fact that he has only scored one league goal in his entire time with the club is indicative of the poor overall performance of the team in the attacking feature. After Nuno left Hutchinson out of the European squad, it has only been recently that he has started earning any kind of trust, and he made his first start in the Premier League in December.
On the contrary, there have been high profile signings who have not settled. Manchester City has sold James McAtee to others who have made only one league appearance at nearly PS30m. Winger, Dilane Bakwa has been on the field just three times and PS26m striker Arnaud Kalimuendo has been put on loan to Frankfurt only after nine substitute appearances. The short tenure by goalkeeper John Victor in the side was cut short after a dismal five game run that was inflicted by an expensive error at Aston Villa.
Lastly, the very recruitment policy by Forest has also been open to criticism. Younger players were focused on by Edu as an investment in the future, and this vision and immediacy were at odds with one another. It is said that former manager Nuno favored known Premier league formations, like Adama Traore, over Hutchinson. Factor in Mega transfers such as that of Anthony Elanga PS55m to Newcastle and Danilo 21m to Botafogo and the Forest team has changed a lot within no more than a few weeks.
Finally, it is not yet clear whether Forest transfer spending has offered value on money in terms of result or league position but it might be still too soon to write of the project as a failure. It has been a combination of injuries, turnover of managers and the difficulty in trying to incorporate so many new faces. It is survival this season and once Forest manages to survive this season, the real verdict of such signings can be determined later. As it currently is the club is at a cross road, stability, clarity and patience is required so that this expensive rebuild does not turn out to be the beginning of a far downward-spiraling.
Follow us on Zeroto30s social channels:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zeroto30s/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/zeroto30s
Twitter: https://twitter.com/zeroto30s
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Zeroto30s