Hopefully this is the last time I have to talk about transfers for a while.
I wrote at the end of the Championship transfer window about how well I thought Forest had done in the summer window in terms of signings.
However the lower league and most international windows have closed now, so unless someone from the Afghanistan leagues wants to come and buy someone, that should be Forest’s squad set until the January window.
So here’s a quick recap of what went down on transfer deadline day.
Arvin Appiah – Sold to Almeria: I touched on this yesterday as it came in, but this is a move that I think makes sense for Forest. Not just because of his lack of first-team opportunities, but also because of the money that’s rumoured to be involved in the deal. Paul Taylor of The Athletic says that it could be up to as much as £8m, and that’s just a sum that the club couldn’t afford to turn down.
Jason Cummings – Sold to Shrewsbury Town: This is someone I would rather have seen gone out on loan, as I do think there is some potential there based on his overall goal-scoring record, even if he hasn’t quite been able to replicate it during his time at Forest. Predominantly I think this because of a lack of centre-forwards that the club has at the moment. If we end up getting a couple of injuries here and there, we don’t necessarily have the depth to deal with it if it carries on for a few weeks.
Daryl Murphy – Released, then signed by Bolton Wanderers: No surprises here. It’s been well known for a couple of months that Murphy’s future at the City Ground was pretty much non-existent, even though I thought at the time he could have been some use to us, and to an extent still do. We also can’t really be surprised in how the move to Bolton came about. As much as I would have liked to have gotten a fee for him, given the situation Wanderers are in, to have asked them to have given us any money would have been both cruel and unlikely.
Liam Bridcutt – Loan to Bolton Wanderers: Other than reports that he could be on his way to Peterborough, rumours that were quickly shut down by the owner, there hasn’t been a lot of talk when it came to the future of the Scottish international. The only surprise with this is that it’s a short-term loan rather than one for the whole season. Does this mean that he still has a place in Lamouchi’s plans for this season and this stint is just to keep him fresh? Or is it that Bolton simply couldn’t afford to keep hold of him for a whole year?
Overall though, I’d say it was pretty successful, we got some funds which can be used to strengthen the squad in January if we have to, and we’ve managed to get the squad down to a much more manageable size. What do you think? Did Forest handle the second deadline day ok? Or do you think that we could have kept hold of a few more or sold a few more?
