The hard work starts here. Nottingham Forest have completed comfortably the biggest transfer deal in their history by selling Elliot Anderson to Manchester City for £116million, a record fee for an English player.
It is a stunning piece of business for Forest, who bought Anderson from Newcastle for £35m only two years ago. These deals will help Forest stay within spending rules and give them opportunity to replace Anderson while improving elsewhere.
Unlike last season, the club will not be involved in European competition and so probably do not need the sort of expensive recruitment drive they pursued a year ago. But Evangelos Marinakis remains one of the most ambitious owners in the Premier League and will expect a far better domestic season than last year, when Forest had four managers and were fighting relegation virtually to the end of the campaign.
Last summer Forest paid about £200m for 10 new players to handle the twin objectives of domestic and European football but of those, only Omari Hutchinson and Igor Jesus established themselves in the first team.
Never say never with Forest, who have form for recruiting heavily in the closing weeks of a summer window. Yet as things stand, and with no European football on the horizon, Forest are planning fewer signings – with a forward, a right back and at least one midfielder among the targets.
Here Daily Mail Sport looks at how Forest will tackle the summer window.
Elliot Anderson will become the most expensive English player of all time when he completes his £116m move to Manchester City
Igor Jesus was one of the few new players to establish himself in the Nottingham Forest side last season
Who replaces Anderson?
Forest will be lucky to find another player on whom they can make such an enormous profit in a two-year period. But the club knew some time ago that Anderson would likely depart this summer and have begun assessing their options.
Brighton midfielder Jack Hinshelwood is a long-term target and Forest considered making an offer for him last winter. The player has since signed a new three-and-a-half-year deal on the south coast, but this remains one to keep an eye on, possibly until later in the window.
Forest are also thought to be considering Liverpool midfielder Curtis Jones. Jones has one year remaining on his contract and it is thought the Reds will listen to offers for the 25-year-old, who is also of interest to Inter Milan. The Italian champions had a £21m bid rejected last week and it is thought Liverpool will not consider any offer below £35m.
The one issue is whether Jones, having been a useful but never a crucial player for his boyhood team, would be keen to join what he might deem a lower-ranked club. Some players like that also struggle to adapt when they are suddenly expected to be a key man for a new team.
Forest are also monitoring Swedish midfielder Lucas Bergvall, who is keen to leave Tottenham this summer due to a lack of first-team opportunities under Roberto De Zerbi. Spurs beat Barcelona to sign the 20-year-old two years ago but he started only once in De Zerbi’s seven matches at the end of last season.
He is currently at the World Cup, where he became Sweden’s youngest player to appear in the competition. He supported Manchester United as a boy and had two trials with them, in 2020 and 2022.
Brighton midfielder Jack Hinshelwood is a long-term target and Forest considered making an offer for him last winter
Curtis Jones is also of interest, though Forest face competition from Italian champions Inter Milan
Lucas Bergvall is also on their radar after falling out of favour at Tottenham Hotspur
Will any other stars leave?
After Anderson, the three stars Forest fans were most concerned about losing were attacking midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White, full back Neco Williams and centre back Murillo.
Though Murillo has had interest from Manchester United and Chelsea, the Brazilian defender signed a new four-year contract last month and this should greatly improve Forest’s chances of hanging onto him this summer.
Gibbs-White is coming off the season of his life, producing 18 goals and seven assists in all competitions. However, this was not good enough to propel him into the England World Cup squad. As one of the best players in his position in the Premier League, Gibbs-White will always be of interest to wealthy rivals, but at this stage Forest are quietly confident he will stay.
First, Gibbs-White is comfortably the highest-paid player in Forest’s history, having signed a new three-year deal last summer days after Tottenham thought they had triggered a release clause in his previous contract.
Forest’s intention has always been to build their team around Gibbs-White and with Anderson gone, they are doubly determined to do so. They would also have to replace him – no easy job for a club like Forest, especially when there are few No 10s as good as Gibbs-White on the market.
Of course, Forest would have a decision to make in the event of a huge offer. Gibbs-White turns 27 in January and is in the prime of his career, so any bid would have to be well above Spurs’ £60m offer last summer even to be considered. Forest are relatively relaxed about the situation. They are not compelled to sell Gibbs-White and anyone trying to sign him would have a huge task convincing Marinakis to do business.
Williams also signed a new deal last summer but had another barnstorming campaign last year and is admired by many clubs across the league. Again, though, Forest know they would have a tough job replacing the Wales international, who can play in both full back positions and is rarely injured.
As we are not yet out of June, nothing can be ruled out. If Gibbs-White or Williams were to demand to leave, that may change the landscape – but Forest feel they are in a strong position.
Though Murillo has had interest from Manchester United and Chelsea, the Brazilian defender signed a new four-year contract last month
Morgan Gibbs-White and Neco Williams both starred last season and Forest will try their hardest to keep them
Where else are they looking to strengthen and which fringe players could leave?
With Chris Wood now 34 and Jesus not considered a natural centre forward, Forest will prioritise signing a new striker this summer. There is also Taiwo Awoniyi, and Arnaud Kalimuendo will come back from his loan at Eintracht Frankfurt, but this will not prevent Forest from looking closely at a new goalscorer.
While much is expected of Jesus this season, coach Vitor Pereira believes he is stronger as a second striker or even a No 10 than as a No 9. Jesus adapted superbly to English football last season, scoring 16 goals in all, but admitted the difference in speed and physicality from the Brazilian top flight came as a shock. He should be even better this year.
Another area Forest are studying is right back. Ola Aina is a proven Premier League performer but he has struggled with injuries and Forest are keen to find a strong alternative, with Nicolo Savona available for transfer.
Others who could depart from the players signed last summer include Dilane Bakwa, Dan Ndoye and James McAtee, although Pereira is a huge admirer of McAtee. Offers may also be considered for back-up centre back Morato.
Forest need more firepower up front with Chris Wood now 34 and having had an injury-hit season
Dan Ndoye, who is currently at the World Cup with Switzerland, could leave this summer after failing to make a significant impact in his first season at Forest
How do Forest stand with financial rules?
Daily Mail Sport understands the club are in a good position for the 2025-26 Premier League accounting period, even before the sale of Anderson.
If the Anderson transfer is announced officially in July, it would then fall into the 2026-27 cycle and potentially give Forest more room for manoeuvre in the market.
UEFA have more stringent regulations, however, and Forest will soon learn whether they face a fine for exceeding the Squad Cost Ratio last season. This has happened before to Premier League clubs who compete in Europe after a long absence, with Wolves and Aston Villa being previous victims.
However, any UEFA punishment is unlikely to cloud the present picture, as Forest try to give Pereira a squad to ensure they do not face another relegation battle – or a four-manager season.
