Nottingham Forest were still a somewhat erratic entity in the transfer market during the summer of 2023.
Although there was more of a plan than there had been a year previous, some of the signings 12 months ago made little sense.
Forest used the loan market very poorly. Divock Origi was an awful singing, whilst £14 million was spent on two goalkeepers who have already left the club.
There were some good pieces of business. Callum Hudson-Odoi cost Forest just £3 million, whilst Anthony Elanga was signed from Manchester United to the tune of £15 million.
Those two players came in on the back of a failed move for Willian – and 12 months down the line, Evangelos Marinakis is going to get his man!
Willian flies out for talks with Nottingham Forest owner
Fabrizio Romano has delivered an update on the future of Willian following his departure from Fulham on a free transfer at the end of last season.
The 36-year-old was a target for Forest last summer. At one point it was claimed that Willian had been taken for a look around the training ground but he penned a new deal with Fulham at the eleventh hour.
Romano has claimed that Willian is now going over to Athens for talks over a move to Olympiacos. Marinakis is keen to strengthen and the man with a Premier League pedigree is set to sign.
Willian has won two Premier League titles, a Europa League and both domestic cups in England.
The player who can operate on either flank scored 47 goals and claimed 46 assists during 317 Premier League appearances but now looks set for Greece.
Furthermore, he scored nine goals in 70 appearances for the Brazil national team and won a medal in the Copa America competition.
Forest did well to avoid Willian again this summer
The Reds of old who used to spend millions on wages would have signed Willian in a flash. Thankfully, things are running much better behind the scenes these days.
Willian has enjoyed a wonderful career but Saturday’s draw with Wolves showed why Forest were right to avoid signing the versatile winger.
Instead, the Reds landed Ramon Sosa and Jota Silva and both players looked very impressive when they were introduced at the weekend.
They added energy to the team from the bench and Forest actually did get a second goal before the assistant referee’s flag and VAR worked in tandem to disallow the strike.
Willian was a quality player in his day. For Forest, however, the club has started doing good things on the recruitment front and thankfully an expensive 36-year-old wasn’t in their sights this summer.
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