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Opinion: Transfer decision sees Nottingham Forest throw £2.2m down the drain

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Apostolos Vellios is set to join Atromitos after Nottingham Forest deemed him surplus to requirements, but the manner of his departure will see the Reds throw more than £2m down the drain. The 27-year-old is set to become Atromitos’ best-paid player, but Forest haven’t managed to negotiate a transfer fee out of his sale despite Vellios still having a year left on his deal.

Forest signed Vellios from Iraklis Thessaloniki for £1m in 2016 and agreed a four-year deal worth £0.42m-a-year/£8k-per-week. The Greek international has made 45 appearances in all competitions for Forest, scoring eight games, but he hasn’t featured since May 2018. The Reds have spent £2.2m on Vellios (transfer fee + wages) and won’t get any of that back if he leaves on a free.

Vellios has been surplus to requirements for some time. He was a regular during the first-half of his debut season but fell out of favour as the goals dried up. The 27-year-old endured a 14-month goal drought at Forest between November 2016 and January 2018 and was eventually loaned out the following summer.

His season-long stint at Waasland-Beveren didn’t go to plan, however, with Vellios scoring only four goals in 18 games on loan. He made just one league appearance in 2019 for the Belgian club and was expected to leave this summer. Vellios’ poor form has likely contributed with his diminishing value, but Forest are short on money to spend this summer and can’t afford to make losses on players.

Read Crippy Cooke’s previous article

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Sports journalist who is an avid football fan, enjoys debunking transfer rumours, loves to write pieces about players out in the cold and takes a large amount of pride getting a predicted XI 100% correct.