The January transfer window ended with fewer signings than Nottingham Forest might have wished, but not with any shortage of drama.
Three players were added, strengthening options in goal, defence and up front. But Forest were frustrated in their efforts to make further additions.
Here’s a look at how the window unfolded at the City Ground. The information found within this article has been gathered according to The Athletic’s sourcing guidelines. Sources with knowledge of transfer dealings, who asked to be kept anonymous to protect relationships, have been spoken to before offering the clubs involved the opportunity to comment.
Was this window a success or a failure?
Forest began the window believing that it would be a quiet, uneventful affair — but went into the final days wanting to sign a goalkeeper, a midfielder, a left back and a forward.
They did tick some of the most urgent boxes, but will have been disappointed not to get a midfielder or a second striker over the line. Not a roaring success, not a failure. But not what the club hoped for.
How much did they spend and how much did they bring in?
Forest did some sensible business. Their biggest financial commitment was Lorenzo Lucca, the 25-year-old striker from Napoli, who joined on loan, with an option to make the move permanent for £34.7million ($47.5m).
The money spent in January was minimal, with Luca Netz arriving in a £1.1million move from Borussia Monchengladbach and goalkeeper Stefan Ortega joining on a short-term deal from Manchester City around £500,000.
Netz was a deadline-day signing (Alex Grimm/Getty Images)
Forest allowed Arnaud Kalimuendo to join Frankfurt on loan, with the German club holding an option to make the move permanent for around £26million. Cuiabano is expected to return to his native Brazil in what will initially be a loan move to Vasco da Gama, with an option to make the move permanent for a fee roughly similar to the £10million Forest paid to sign him from Botafogo in the summer.
The termination of Douglas Luiz’s loan move from Juventus — to enable him to return to Aston Villa — and the decision to cut short Oleksandr Zinchenko’s loan from Arsenal, to facilitate a move to Ajax, will have saved a significant amount in wages.
Who have they signed?
Striker Lucca was the first new addition before Forest agreed a deal with Manchester City for Ortega. And, on deadline day, the club added German defender Netz, who was heading into the final six months of his contract.
Were there any deals they wanted to do that they didn’t get over the line?
Forest made a £35million bid for Crystal Palace striker Jean-Philippe Mateta. The Frenchman preferred a move to AC Milan, but that fell through after the player had undergone several stages of the medical process.
They also held an interest in Jorgen Strand Larsen, who Palace signed as an intended replacement for Mateta, from Wolves. They also considered Mehdi Taremi of Olympiacos, with the 33-year-old Iranian at the top of an initial shortlist of striker targets.
But while a deal would have, in theory, been easy to do with another of the clubs within the Evangelos Marinakis empire, it would also have left Olympiacos short of attacking options at a time when they have qualified for the play-off round of the Champions League.
Forest made a bid for Mateta who ended up staying at Palace (Alex Pantling/Getty Images)
Forest looked at numerous different midfield options.
Brighton rejected an approach for Yasin Ayari, although that is a situation that could be revisited in the summer. They also had an interest in experienced defender Lewis Dunk, which could also be resurrected. Forest pursued Inter midfielder Davide Frattesi, but, while the two clubs held talks, any deal was linked to Inter managing to bring in a midfielder, which was not feasible.
On deadline day, Forest pushed hard for two midfielders. They had a £12million bid for Middlesbrough’s Hayden Hackney turned down, with the player keen to remain part of their Championship promotion push. While Forest offered around £22million for Celtic’s Arne Engels.
Are there still any obvious gaps in the team?
There will be if any key players get injured or suspended. The form of Igor Jesus — 11 goals in all competitions — and the return to fitness of Taiwo Awoniyi has helped ease concerns over firepower, but Chris Wood — who scored 20 goals last season — remains sidelined with a knee injury.
Dan Ndoye is capable of playing in a central attacking role and Morgan Gibbs-White has looked handy playing in a more advanced role. But you would not want to use either as an out-and-out forward for a lengthy period.
Douglas Luiz has left and is now at Villa (Michael Regan/Getty Images)
In midfield, allowing Douglas Luiz and, to a lesser extent, Zinchenko to leave has impacted Forest’s options. Elliot Anderson has been outstanding, as has Ibrahim Sangare, since returning from AFCON while Nico Dominguez is also having a good season. Forest also have Ryan Yates to call upon, while James McAtee has shown signs that his confidence is growing.
But even one or two injuries could leave them short. That applies to Nikola Milenkovic and Murillo. Forest have other options in defence, but not of the same quality or experience.
Do they have the squad to achieve their goals for the season?
If they can remain injury-free and if some of last summer’s new additions can find their feet at the club, then yes. If they can put a little more distance between themselves and the bottom three, that would give them the freedom to focus more on the Europa League. But avoiding relegation has to remain the priority.
Will the manager/head coach be happy?
Sean Dyche seemed relaxed in his final press conference before the window ended, saying Forest were working on two or three potential additions. But it would be understandable if he was a little frustrated that Forest did not end the window in a stronger position.
Forest head coach Sean Dyche (MIGUEL LEMOS / AFP via Getty Images)
What will their priority be in the summer?
Forest will almost certainly have to make one major sale to ensure they remain on the right side of the Premier League’s profitability and sustainability rules (PSR). Making sure it is the right deal for the club, if they do sell, will be a priority.
Elliot Anderson is likely to attract the most interest — along with Murillo and Gibbs-White. But Forest will put a price tag of between £80million to £100million on his head.
Will they have money to spend?
If they make one major sale — as they have done previously with players like Brennan Johnson and Anthony Elanga — it should give them some wriggle room.
The club are confident they will stay on the right side of PSR (which runs to the end of this season), with there being no fears of any repeat of the four-point deduction they were handed in March 2024.
For Europe, Forest are braced for the possibility of sanctions from UEFA for breaching its financial regulations, although that is yet to be confirmed. The deadline for clubs to give UEFA a final version of their financial position for 2024-25 is March 17.
UEFA has two financial rules: the squad-cost rule (SCR) and football earnings. In September, The Athletic projected Forest would breach UEFA’s football-earnings rule. That calculation does not include the 2025 summer spend, as the assessment period for football earnings for 2024-25 goes up to the end of June 2025.
Last summer’s spending will, however, impact their compliance with SCR, which is assessed annually, January 1 to December 31 2025. The Athletic estimated Forest will breach that and are likely to get a fine.
In July last year, Chelsea and Villa were fined €31million and €11m respectively after breaching UEFA’s financial rules during 2024-25. Those figures are split into a fine for breaking the football-earnings rule (€20m in Chelsea’s case, €5m for Villa) and for being in breach of the SCR (€11m and €6m respectively). Any future sanctions for any clubs would be decided similarly, based on the scale of the breach and any similar historic issues.
A UEFA fine may be imposed even if the club do not qualify for Europe next season, though any restrictions on spending will be of less concern if they do not qualify. However, the Premier League is also bringing in SCR to replace PSR so it is important to be aware of.
Forest have received compensation from FIFA for Ola Aina’s absence, after he was injured on international duty. The full back was sidelined between early September and early January, after suffering a hamstring problem in Nigeria’s 1-1 draw with South Africa.
What is their strongest XI now the window is shut?
4-2-3-1: Sels; Aina, Milenkovic, Murillo, Williams; Sangare, Anderson; Hudson-Odoi, Gibbs-White, Dominguez; Jesus
The full list of ins and outs
Ins: Lorenzo Lucca, Napoli, loan with an €40million option to buy; Stefan Ortega, Manchester City, £500k; Luca Netz, Borussia Monchengladbach, £1.1million.
Outs: Arnaud Kalimuendo, Frankfurt, loan with an option to buy for £26million; Douglas Luiz, loan terminated, Juventus; Oleksandr Zinchenko, loan terminated, Arsenal; Jamie McDonnell, Oxford United, undisclosed.
