Nottingham Forest’s hard-fought 2-2 draw against Brighton and Hove Albion on Sunday makes them one of just four Premier League teams still unbeaten this season.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s team managed to grab a share of the spoils thanks to goals from Chris Wood and summer acquisition Ramon Sosa. As a result, Forest is now just two points outside of the top four, having won two and drawn three of their Premier League games. The initial indications are promising, and several summer additions that were moved to the City Ground during the off-season have had a good effect.
Eliot Anderson of Newcastle United and Milenkovic of Fiorentina proved to be the most expensive additions of the busy window, with a combined cost of over £42 million. On the other end of the budget, Forest signed loan agreements with West Ham United midfielder James Ward-Prowse and Aston Villa left-back Alex Moreno in order to give the team some Premier League experience.
There were exits, with over £70 million being made from the sales of players including Odysseas Vlachodimos, Moussa Niakhate, and Orel Mangala. However, what might Nuno and Forest face in the January transfer window? We launch Football Manager 2024, use the edit to bring the Forest team up to date, and let the most well-liked managing simulation in the world guess what might happen in the first month of the upcoming year.
Ins
Given how busy things were throughout the summer at the City Ground, it makes sense that Forest would have a much quieter January transfer window. That’s not to say Nuno’s team remained empty-handed, as Forest signed left-back Tyrick Mitchell from Crystal Palace for £17 million, beating off competition from Southampton and Brentford, two Premier League opponents. Amad Diallo, a winger for Manchester United, has also signed a loan agreement; however, the Red Devils star is not eligible to make the move permanently. Last but not least, Forest turned down a £35 million approach from La Liga team Atletico Madrid for Morgan Gibbs-White. They also turned down offers of a similar magnitude for winger Anthony Elanga from Benfica and Borussia Dortmund.
Outs
Unsurprisingly, Forest seized the chance to profit from three defensive players whose contracts were about to expire in the new year. In the first week of the market opening for business, Willy Boly joined Steven Gerrard’s Al-Ettifaq for a discounted £5 million, and Ola Aina completed his £9 million move to the French club Lille. In the final day of the transfer window, Harry Toffolo, the last of the trio, effectively ended his career at City Ground when he signed a one-year loan deal to play for Championship team Norwich City.
