It’s pretty obvious that those in charge of recruitment at Nottingham Forest have a ‘type’.
Because there is one position that they really can’t seem to get enough of, and that’s defensive and central midfielders. At least that’s what I’m gathering from the latest rumour.
According to a report from Goal, Nottingham Forest are among a number of clubs that are chasing Liverpool’s Pedro Chirivella. The 22-year-old has very much been on the fringes this season, but has gained some valuable minutes when Liverpool boss Jürgen Klopp has decided to rest players, most notably in the recent games with Aston Villa and Everton in the League Cup and FA Cup respectively.
The problem with a move like this, is that there are just far too many players trying to fit into just three spots into the midfield for Sabri Lamouchi. The club already have seven players on their books that can play through the middle of the park, and although Lamouchi likes to rotate his squad, rarely naming an unchanged side this season, there are still too many players trying to fight for regular game time.
It is possible that the club would be operating a ‘one in, one out’ policy when it comes to players, given that Joao Carvalho has been rumoured with a move away from the club, and this would be a way of bringing him in without putting any extra strain on resources at the City Ground.
But even so, this would be pushing things to their absolute limit.
There is only one area that Forest need to be working on in this January window, and that is getting Lewis Grabban some help upfront. You could make the argument for right-back as well, but with Carl Jenkinson and Yohan Benalouane back, there should be sufficient cover for Matty Cash in my mind.
Do Nottingham Forest need another central midfielder?
Yes
No
Anything else is quite frankly a waste of time and resources, and it could end up costing Forest big time at the end of the season if they don’t get the window right because they were focusing too much energy on players that they don’t need.
