We can all breathe easy now. The panic is over; we don’t have to deal with it all until the end of January.
Not only content with making signings on the pitch, Forest decided to make one off it too this summer, when on a crazy Friday afternoon in June, they appointed Sabri Lamouchi less than half an hour after sacking Martin O’Neill.
So just how well did the Reds do this window in terms of actual players? Let me break it down for you.
The best bit of business: This one actually doesn’t surround a transfer, sort of. The best thing that Forest managed to do this summer was keeping hold of Joe Lolley. Rumours of him moving to Aston Villa had been swirling around since before the window even opened, so the fact the board were strong-willed enough to reject the advances and shun a big offer to spend on the rest of the squad should be applauded.
Whilst they did make some interesting moves in signing the likes of Alfa Semedo, Albert Adomah and Tiago Silva, I think keeping what worked last year, and in particular your reigning Player of the Year was always going to be vital.
If you want to get technical and push me to pick an actual transfer, I was pretty adamant at the time that Aro Muric was going to be one of the best signings of the summer and despite his bad start against West Brom, I stand by that. He comes with high praise from Pep Guardiola, so that’s good enough for me to think he’ll be able to turn it around.
The worst bit of business: There hasn’t really been much ‘bad’ business as it were. Whilst there have been some departures of players that could have been beneficial to the club like Hillal Soudani, I think the biggest concern coming out would be that they haven’t yet managed to get rid of their excess players. Those wages are going to be hemorrhaging the bank balance until they can find new clubs for them, so hopefully they can sort that out soon.
Overall: A very successful window in my eyes. The club managed to keep on to all of their important players from last season, shifted some of the deadwood to create space for the new arrivals although the squad is still a little too big for my liking. Hopefully they’ll be able to shift some players to the lower leagues and abroad before their respective windows shut.
