Evangelos Marinakis and his team behind the scenes at Nottingham Forest certainly love a transfer window, in particular the closing stages, those final, 24hrs of madness that grips the nation.

Despite the dramas elsewhere around the football club, Reds’ boss, Nuno Espirito Santo has seen that much of a revolving door at the City Ground over the past few months that even the Nottingham Sport Editor, just this morning quipped; “They bloody love deadline day. I can imagine Marinakis on Black Friday buying everything.”

And to be honest, that’s not even a stretch of the imagination either, he’s done it before, and it’s quite likely he’ll do it again, and this summer, well it really was no different with, including a smattering of youth players, twenty players have joined the football club, and some twenty-two have departed.

Strengthening in every department it’s perhaps difficult to see which has been the best signing, there’s been that many; with the first team alone, the window has seen the arrival of five Brazilians (Igor Jesus, Jair Cunha, John Victor and Cuiabano from Botafogo, and Douglas Luiz on loan from Juventus), alongside two Englishmen, Swiss, French, Italian, and a late, Ukrainian cherry on the top.

The Botafogo quartet were thrust into the public eye when following victory at the 2024 CONMEBOL Copa Libertadores, where they defeated fellow Brazilians, Atletico Mineiro 3-1 in the final at the Estadio Monumental, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, before being part of the side that shocked that world at the FIFA Club World Cup over the summer – Jesus netting the only goal of the game as they won 1-0 against eventual runners-up, and the European Champions, Paris Saint-Germain.

As for Douglas Luiz, the 18-times capped Brazilian international who won Olympic Gold in 2020, knows the Premier League well following a recent, five-year, 200+ appearances spell, at Aston Villa, before spending last season in Italy, with Serie A giants, Juventus; he’s joining the Reds on a season-long loan.

The other loan arrival was the last announcement of the summer transfer window, and comes in the shape of a four-time Premier League title winner, the Ukrainian international, Oleksandr Zinchenko.

Someone who can play in defence and midfielder, is vastly experienced and very knowledgeable, both in England, and abroad; in 2019 he was part of the Manchester City side that lifted all four domestic trophies, making 128 appearances, and a further 91 for Arsenal, over a near decade in the Premier League.

Like Douglas Luiz, Zinchenko arrives at the City Ground on a season-long loan deal; as for the big-money signings, there’s been four incomings that have topped £25 million, the Forest Head Coach having an array of talent in which to chose from over the coming months,

Granted, the departure lounge saw Anthony Elanga head to Newcastle United for £55 million, Danilo headed to Botafogo for £21.7 million, and both Ramon Sosa and Carlos Miguel head to Palmeiras for a combined £16 million, the big-money replacements more than compensate.

In addition to those signings already mentioned above, the Reds have also brought in English pairing, Omari Hutchinson, costing £37.5 million from Ipswich Town, and James McAtee, for £30 million from Manchester City, both of whom are exciting, attacking midfield prospects.

In their early twenties, both were part of the successful England U21s side that won the UEFA European U21 Championship, in Slovakia this part summer; defeating Germany 3-2 AET, Hutchinson was among the scorers in an exhilarating final.

Alongside Hutchinson and McAtee there’s also been the addition of Dan Ndoye, a Swiss international striker signed from Italian side, 2025 Coppa Italia winners Bologna, for £34.5 million, and Frenchman Arnaud Kalimuendo has joined from Rennes for £26 million.

Goalkeeper Angus Gunn (free transfer), young Italian defender Nicolo Savona has also joined from Juventus and costs £11.2 million, as well as another of the deadline day signings in Dilane Bakwa from Strasbourg for an undisclosed fee.

There’s also been a handful of additions replacing the outgoings in the Reds’ youth set-up, they including several Englishmen of which two are from Chelsea (Luke Campbell and Donnell McNeilly), and two from North Ireland, and Linfield (Kalum Thompson and Matthew Orr) , the latter having played in both the UEFA Conference League, and UEFA Champions League.

A busy one, as expected, but for Reds supporters this year’s summer transfer window has been a somewhat exceptional one, the club’s hierarchy bringing in both talented players, and squad players alike, in order to challenge both domestically, and in the upcoming UEFA Europa League campaign.

*Article provided by Peter Mann (Senior Correspondent).

*Main image @NFFC Dilane Bakwa joins Nottingham Forest from Strasbourg.