Nottingham Forest transfer state of play on deadline day as Nuno has clear strategy
Right from the turn of the year, Nottingham Forest head coach Nuno Espirito Santo has been very clear about how he wanted the winter transfer window to pan out.
The Portuguese has maintained the same stance he took back in the summer. For him, the priority has always been to retain what he refers to as his “core” group of players.
With today’s 11pm deadline looming, that aim remains at the top of his wish-list. And good luck to any club hoping to test that resolve now Nuno and his squad are out in Dubai for a week-long warm-weather training camp.
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Forest will be put through their paces in the United Arab Emirates and an emphasis will also be placed on team bonding to strengthen what is already a tight-knit dressing room. But perhaps there is also a thinking that ensuring the club’s prized assets are physically removed from the potential clutches of any suitors is no bad thing either.
Nuno has always been keen for his players not to become distracted by any speculation - or indeed anything that takes away their focus from their push for European football. Jetting them off to sunnier climes, as he has hoped to do for some time now, will surely help on that front.
Every time he has been asked a question about transfers, Nuno has given the impression of a man entirely relaxed about the situation. The general gist of his answers have been, if something “special” happens, great, but no problem if not.
“While the window is open, it is open. Anything can happen,” he said after Saturday’s 7-0 hammering of Brighton and Hove Albion. “But I will reinforce what I have been saying, not only to you (the media) but also to the club, more than anything our priority was to keep the players.
“If it is something really special; if it is a piece - a player - that we really need and it is possible, fantastic, because we are not perfect and if somebody can help us, great. But that has to be somebody really special.”
The Reds essentially have just one area of the pitch in need of attention. They were unable to get another striker through the doors back in the summer and it remains to be seen whether they manage to do so today.
Some players they have been linked with have now headed elsewhere, such as Brighton’s Evan Ferguson going to West Ham United. Another in Botafogo’s Igor Jesus reportedly rejected the chance to make the switch Trentside. Meanwhile, Brentford have been steadfast in their determination to hang on to another Forest target in Yoane Wissa.
As Nuno has said many times, this is a difficult window - even more so in the hunt for attacking reinforcements. Several clubs have been on the lookout for forward players and they do not come cheap.
Nuno has emphasised that he does not want to risk rocking the boat by making a signing for the sake of it. Any decisions must be carefully weighed up, with only players who can improve the squad and fit into the dressing room to be considered.
For that reason, it could be a relatively quiet deadline day. But that may not necessarily be a bad thing given the Reds are having an incredible season as it is.
Today is unlikely to see a mass exodus, either. Forest did a lot of work on trimming numbers in the last window so have few fringe players remaining on the books. They will, though, try to oversee moves for attacker Emmanuel Dennis and midfielder Lewis O’Brien.
