Nottingham Forest are starting to get a bit of a reputation for deadline day dealings after they secured seven September 1st signings in addition to the eleven they had already earlier captured in the summer window.
The Reds replacing 33 outgoings in another busy shopping spree since securing their Premier League status last season and starting their campaign with a win and two losses so far this.
We at Nottingham Sport didn’t have the funds, sleeping tablets or resources to cover the unfolding of yesterday, a truly crazy Friday of closing-down business, coming to an end in the early hours of Saturday morning.
Since Wednesday’s home loss in the Carabao Cup second round against Burnley the Reds have been involved in a whopping 14 transactions… Since kicking off the season at Arsenal on 12th August Steve Cooper’s side have signed eleven players with ten out the door on permanent deals or loan moves.
The biggest through the exit window coming late through the day with the transfer window shut looming as Brennan Johnson, previously known as ‘one of our own’ was sent to Spurs to recoup some cash.
Academy graduate and red of 14 years long Johnson went for near £50m in the biggest transfer of the day whilst that was spent within a couple of hours of his ‘adios’ announcement, Ibraham Sangare in a £30m plus deal from PSV looks a fine signing whilst Norwich City rookie Andrew Omobamidele joined for a rumoured £20m as he made the last-minute trip from Rotherham where the Canaries were staying in a hotel ahead of their following day match against the Millers.
This week’s transfer trail all started on Thursday morning, no sooner did the lights go down after the 1-0 cup exit to Burnley was the acquisition of Brazilian defender Murillo announced, he signed from Corinthians for an undisclosed fee, a young player with potential who can play left sided centre half or at left back.
By this time, Forest had already played two debutants on Wednesday night as Gonzalo Montiel and Andrey Santos joined on season long loans towards the end of last week, not content with their squad depth and quality for the months ahead the hierarchy went to work early on Friday and announced player after player throughout the turbulent day…
The first through the door was Nuno Taveres, on loan from Arsenal he was announced at 10am after Loic Mbe Soh was dished out to Almere City for the rest of the season.
Jonathan Panzo was then announced as leaving on loan to Cardiff before a swap deal had Remo Freuler exchanged for Bologna’s Argentine tough tackling midfielder Nicolas Dominguez.
At 6pm last night the Reds announced Callum Hudson-Odoi as their third arrival of the day, the former England Youth World Cup winner is no stranger to Steve Cooper who managed the attacking wide man at international level as a jnr, Hudson-Odoi has had three full England caps and over 100 games at Chelsea with whom he won a Champions League in 2021.
As silence then hit for a few hours ahead of Johnson making his way to Tottenham to talk contracts the announcement of Benfica goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos was next to put pen to paper. The Greek international will contest the number one jersey with another summer signing in Matt Turner who let’s not forget joined on a permanent deal from Arsenal at the start of last month.
With rumours of movement in the City Ground car park and as the clock neared 11pm and the transfer window close just five minutes to go in fact, the announcement of Brennan Johnson’s exit was made clear, no room for fond farewells, what followed was the immediate incoming of Ibrahim Sangare, an Ivorian midfielder who helped his side PSV to qualifying for the Champions League in midweek, he’s a strong physical athletic footballer who is very good on the ball.
Not to be finished, by this time I was in my bed and tucked up asleep but well aware that these deals would be done, the Reds then announced Divock Origi on loan from Milan, that followed the highly rated young defender Andrew Omobamidele with Hwang Ui-jo heading on loan in the opposite direction to Carrow Road.
And breathe…
Whatever your thoughts, whether you’re positive and foaming at the mouth over every signing that Forest make, or if you’re disappointed, sad to see Brennan Johnson in particular leave after the years he gave the Garibaldi, sceptical about some of the signings made? One thing for sure is the business is probably not yet done… With the Saudi Arabian market still open for a week, keep your eyes on the likes of Aurier and Mangala, let’s hope there’s not a ridiculously ludicrous bid for Morgan Gibbs-White either.
Regardless of what happens next we’ll be back in the winter window to do it all again, the club that the likes of Jim White, John Percy and Fabrizio Romano just love to love… They’ll be shopping until they drop come the January sales and looking for a bargain no question, to help boost their European push, or to bolster their relegation worries… One thing for sure is nobody has a clue how this side will now gel, your guess, as good as mine.
*Article provided by Daniel Peacock (Editor).
*Main image @NFFC Callum Hudson-Odoi one of the star signings on a busy deadline day.
