12 In And Counting- Nottingham Forest's Busy Summer Isn't Over Yet

Its safe to say that since the clubs return to the top flight of English football Forest have been extremely active in the transfer window with 12 players joining Forest in hopes to keep them in the Premier League.

While on the surface it may look like Forest are “doing a Fulham” as many news outlets would lead you to believe if you analyse the business conducted by Marinakis and his recruitment team headed by Dane Murphy have seen over 20 players leave the City Ground weather that be on loan or permanently.

With such an extreme window of talent leaving forest a large number of incomings was to be expected but forest are far from done yet as Forest continue to be linked with a massive crop of players ranging from the realistic to the straight

Morgan Gibbs-White

The first in the list of rumours and speculated transfers is Morgan Gibbs White the 22 year-old who is currently playing for Wolves has been Steve Coopers number one target since The Reds won promotion at Wembley. After a very successful loan spell with Sheffield United, only tainted by his penalty miss against his potential new club Nottingham Forest in the play-off semi-final, he returns to wolves with a wealth of experience in a wide variety of positions having being used not only in the 10 roles but also on the right-hand side and as a striker often paired with Iliman Ndiaye.

Forest know all about Morgan Gibbs White after he scored twice against forest last season one in a very impressive 4-0 victory while playing for wolves in the Carabao Cup and once in the aforementioned second leg of the playoff semi-final.

However Steve Cooper knows the player better than most as Steve Cooper was the manager of the England U17 side that were crowned world champions in 2017 Steve Cooper oversaw some fantastic young talent that year including Phil Foden, Jadon Sancho and Emile Smith Rowe, but Gibbs White must have made a lasting impression on cooper who later took him on loan with him to Welsh side Swansea City in his first delve into senior management and Cooper is obviously a big admirer wanting to take the talented youngster on his first Premier League endeavour.

320,000 Premier League footballs, 61,500 copies of FIFA 23 or 200 weeks’ worth of Jesse Lingard (if you believe Talksport) are all things you’d be able to purchase with £40,000,000 and that’s the major stumbling block in this deal forest appear to be willing to pay £25,000,000 up front and make the rest up in future add-ons however Wolves seem adamant and very stubborn in their £40,000,000 valuation of Gibbs White.

While we all know he’s a fantastic footballer with bags of potential maybe lacking a little bit of experience at the top level but could easily make up for that with his raw ability and if anyone can nurture that ability Steve Cooper is the man for the job. The task for the forest hierarchy is now to weigh up how effective Gibbs White can be in The Reds bid for survival and decide weather its worth smashing the club record fee for him.

Goncalo Ramos

Speaking of forest breaking their record fee they did exactly that for Taiwo Awoniyi when they spent £17,500,000 for the Nigerian international however according to reports Forest are said to be targeting hotshot striker Goncalo Ramos.

The 21 year-old stands 6 feet tall and is one of Benfica’s biggest attacking talents scoring 7 goals in last year’s campaign, he also boasts a fantastic record for Portugal’s U21 team scoring 14 goals in only 18 appearances and also has a similar record for the U19 side. While Forest are reportedly prepared to pay upwards of £27,000,000 for the striker that isn’t near Benfica’s valuation of nearly £45,000,000 this deal still has some way to go yet but would be a real coup for Forest.

Cheikhou Kouyate

Now to a free transfer that seems to make sense for all involved, Cheikhou Kouyate is available to Forest on a free. He’ll bring vital Premier League experience to Forest and can offer a helping hand to the likes of Yates, Mangala and O’Brien as they look to adjust to Premier League football.

Kouyate was fantastic at winning tackles and intercepting last season however poses little to nothing when looking at what a typical Steve cooper midfielder needs to do for example, he offers little to nothing in attacking scenarios and is poor at progressing the ball but what he offers defensively could be crucial to forest keeping a tight defence this coming season.

This deal appears to be progressing well according to reports coming from close to the club and would be a shrewd signing for Forest.

Pervis Estupinan

Now onto a man whose won a Europa league, got champions league and international experience.

Pervis Estupinan is a 24 year old left wing back from Villarreal and an Ecuadorian international who played 28 times in La Liga last season and also featured 10 times in champions league competition. The pacy wing back could provide forest a lot of what they have lost since Djed Spence departed from his loan spell whilst he operates off the left-hand side his blistering pace and comfortability on the ball could provide forest with both defensive and attacking options at key moments in the upcoming season.

Whilst Forest have already signed 2 players that would play in the left wing back role (Harry Toffolo and Omar Richards) Richards suffered a hairline leg fracture putting him out for an unknown amount of time and Toffolo didn’t really impress in his debut against Newcastle, Estupinan could really make that left wing back position his own if signed.

James Garner

One of the images shown by Sky Sports during Manchester United’s 2-1 loss to Brighton was of a frustrated Ronaldo, but the less talked about figure in those images was a seemingly uninterested or frustrated James Garner who didn’t make it off the bench the 21 year old fresh off a promotion winning season for Forest in his second loan spell.

Forest fans thought a deal for Garner was dead in the water when they confirmed Dean Henderson’s loan deal from united however Forest now appear to be shaping up a permanent move for the 21-year-old midfielder.

A fan favourite among Forest fans last year with his fantastic ability to control and dictate the play not only his brilliance on the ball but his impressive off the ball work rate and defensive ability.

With Rabiot joining the Red Devils Garner is pushed further down the pecking order at United. Many people believe Garner handing in his transfer request could be the final piece of the puzzle in gifting him a move back to the City Ground.