Nottingham Forest have made a transfer deadline day double signing after announcing late last night that Sam Surridge and Jonathan Panzo have joined the club on permanent deals.

Surridge a centre forward aged 23 and formerly of Bournemouth, where he started his career, is a player that joins from Stoke City having played 24 times scoring 4 goals for the Potteries since joining the Britannia based club at the start of this season. Surridge played for Reds Head Coach Steve Cooper whilst on loan at Swansea City and is a big target striker who Cooper speaks highly of.

Panzo is an England U21 international defender that has youth caps also under the stewardship of Cooper. The former Chelsea youngster grew up in London but moved to AS Monaco as a teenager where he broke into the first team on a couple of occasions before playing most recently for Dijon in Ligue 2.

The club did miss out on Josh Bowler from Blackpool and Jed Wallace from Millwall who they were strongly linked with during January, Wallace staying put at the Den, whilst another target, Morgan Rogers, was recalled back to Manchester City following a loan spell at Bournemouth. Blackpool were going to take the young winger if their own player Josh Bowler joined Forest but the Tangerines rejected the Reds bid for him, whilst Forest were rumoured to be keen on a loan move for Rogers.

Outgoing, the club have released Rodrigo Ely who failed to make an appearance since moving from Alaves in September. The former AC Milan defender stating “Hi everyone! I want to tell you that I’m no longer a Nottingham Forest player.

“Those who know me know that football is my life, and playing my greatest hope and motivation.

“Training with my teammates is not enough. I have youth, health and ambition, so I’m going all out for it. I wish you the best, Reds.”

Forest did keep hold of Tobias Figueiredo despite rumours linking him to a loan move overseas whilst Joao Carvalho sealed his permanent move to Olympiakos over the weekend.

Across the county and up the A60, Mansfield Town have signed Newcastle United midfielder Matty Longstaff on loan until the rest of the season. The 21-year-old has 20 Magpies appearances with 14 of those in the top flight of English football but the player has not played a game for his parent club this campaign, the former England U20 international has instead spent time on loan at Aberdeen and joins Mansfield in a huge coup for Manager Nigel Clough and his promotion chasing outfit. The younger brother of Premier League regular Sean, scored on his debut in a 1-0 win against Manchester United at St James’ Park to burst onto the scene in spectacular fashion in 2019 but has since struggled to break through into the previous manager Steve Bruce and his latest boss Eddie Howe’s ongoing plans.

In another high profile addition, the Stags have also signed 32-year-old forward Jamie Murphy on loan from Hibernian. A Scottish international who played for Nigel Clough at Burton Albion, the Glasgow born winger has two full caps and has played for Motherwell, Sheffield United, Brighton & Hove Albion and Rangers amongst others, he’ll hopefully add experience, assists and goals to Mansfield’s challenge for the remainder of the campaign.

*Main image @NFFC Sam Surridge was announced as a Forest player minutes before the deadline.