Marinakis, Nuno, Slot - Nottingham Forest transfer winners and losers after quiet deadline day
The winter window closed on Monday amid a minimum of fuss at Nottingham Forest. It was a quiet end to a quiet month.
Given the Reds are going so well in the Premier League, there was never going to be any need for a mass overhaul midway through the campaign. The club took the same considered approach as in the summer when it came to weighing up potential business.
Aside from re-signing goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey on a short-term deal, Forest’s only other incoming was the deadline day arrival of Tyler Bindon - and he headed straight back to Reading on loan. Like Bindon, teenager Joel Ndala is a bright prospect but the Manchester City loanee will initially join the academy set-up after his switch was confirmed after the window had shut.
Significant outgoings were also notable by their absence throughout the month. Andrew Omobamidele and James Ward-Prowse were the only members of the first-team squad to leave, joining Strasbourg on loan and returning to parent club West Ham United respectively. Lewis O’Brien (Swansea City) and Emmanuel Dennis (Blackburn Rovers) also headed out on loan but they had not been part of the set-up under head coach Nuno Espirito Santo.
The Reds already had a strong squad in place before the window opened, and they will hope they have enough to get them over the line in their quest to secure European football. Below, we look at some of the winners and losers from Forest’s transfer window.
Winners
Nuno: The Portuguese perhaps would not have minded a forward coming through the City Ground doors, but he was clear from the start that any signing would have to be the right one. It would have to be someone “special” who wanted to join the Reds and who would fit into a tight-knit dressing room. From his perspective, there was no point risking upsetting morale simply for the sake of it.
Aside from the lack of a striker, Nuno could hardly have scripted the transfer window any better. It panned out pretty much as he had hoped, largely because his “priority” of keeping his band of brothers together came to pass. His squad is almost the same as it was on December 31, and that is the way he wanted it.
Evangelos Marinakis: Forest have come in for some criticism in the past for their transfer business following promotion to the Premier League. There can be no questioning the club’s recruitment in recent windows, though.
Much of the groundwork for the excellent season the Reds are having was done last summer when the likes of Nikola Milenkovic, Elliot Anderson and Morato put pen to paper. And before that, bargain deals for Callum Hudson-Odoi and Anthony Elanga stood out.
In years past, Forest might have been tempted into a spot of deadline day panic-buying or lured by the prospect of a big-name signing. But not now. Sensible business is the order of the day, with owner Marinakis clearly taking on board his manager’s requests.
According to The Telegraph, the Greek businessman shut down any hopes Chelsea (plus any other teams waiting in the wings) had of trying to prise away star defender Murillo. Getting the Brazilian and striker Chris Wood tied to new deals was a key aspect of the window.
Taiwo Awoniyi: No additional striker coming in should ensure the Nigerian sees more minutes than he otherwise might have done had Nuno’s options been bolstered. He will need them if he is to get back to his best.
Nuno has consistently said he believes Awoniyi can have a significant role to play this term. The 27-year-old has shown what he can do in the Premier League before; the challenge is to rediscover that kind of level.
Had Forest been able to persuade Brentford to part with Yoane Wissa, for example, Awoniyi would have dropped down the pecking order. Now he has a big chance ahead of him. The Reds will still have everything crossed that top scorer Wood stays injury free but the former Union Berlin man is capable of doing his bit.
Losers
James Ward-Prowse: Returning to the capital should give the midfielder the opportunity for the kind of game time he wasn’t getting in the Garibaldi. In that sense, he is a winner. But it can’t quite be argued his, albeit shortened, loan spell worked out for him Trentside.
That is no reflection on either his quality or his character. Indeed, Nuno valued Ward-Prowse for his professionalism and his influence in the dressing room. And although Forest didn’t get to see any of his famous free-kicks hit the back of the net, he did help his teammates with his set-piece prowess on the training ground.
Countdown clock: For those who feed off deadline day drama, the City Ground was not exactly the place to be as the hours ticked down on Monday night. Not that anyone associated with Forest would have been complaining. Far from it, in fact.
It was very quiet. Blissfully so, for some; if not a bit too quiet for others - those who enjoy following the Sky Sports yellow breaking news bar for big updates.
READ MORE: Contract status of every Nottingham Forest player after deadline day as key transfer calls loom
READ MORE: West Ham boss Graham Potter speaks out on James Ward-Prowse Nottingham Forest transfer
The ‘big-spending Forest’ brigade: We’re looking at you, Arne Slot. Not that the Liverpool boss is the only one to have taken a dig at the Reds like that.
“If you look at the amount of money they have spent, it is not a complete surprise,” Slot said of Forest’s lofty position in the table before the teams met at the City Ground in January. Nuno hit back with: "Money doesn’t play football, people do.”
Those who have stereotyped the Reds as a club throwing around cash willy-nilly will have been left disappointed this time around. The only thing Forest might have spent money on is some tumbleweed to signify the lack of signings.
