placeholder image
AFP via Getty Images
Sean Dyche should turn to Brentford and ex-Liverpool stars to boost Nottingham Forest’s Premier League survival hopes
Sunderland, Burnley, Manchester United and West Ham United finished 24th, 22nd, 15th and 14th in the English league ladder last season and The Tricky Trees have handed points to all of them, as their match against Wolverhampton Wanderers in December could be pivotal in the race to avoid the wooden spoon.
All of which is to say, Edu needs to work all of his magic in January to fire a bid for Premier League survival and with that in mind, we loaded up the Football Manager 26 Beta to see what such a pivotal month could hold in store for Nottingham Forest.
Big-name additions can’t mask Forest failings
Fabinho - £1.5m from Al-Ittihad - What a move this would be! A Champions League, Premier League, Ligue 1 and Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques' Cup winner (among other silverware), Fabinho would certainly bring star power to midfield at the City Ground.
Whether he’d bring an impact capable of staving off relegation is another matter though. The Brazilian was so poor in his final season at Liverpool before Al-Ittihad bailed The Reds out with a bonkers £40m transfer fee that made Fabinho the club’s fifth-biggest ever sale. But perhaps if Fabinho was working in a less demanding system under Sean Dyche (or whoever is Forest manager by then) he could roll back the years.
Nathan Patterson - loan from Everton - Patterson has one again really struggled for minutes at Everton this season and though injuries have played their part, he’s also been an unused substitute on four occasions in the Premier League. There’s still question marks over whether the 24-year-old Scot is a Premier League-quality right back so once again, this wouldn’t be the most inspiring signing by Edu.
Keane Lewis-Potter - £31m from Brentford - FM26 framed this as a loan-to-buy deal for the summer, with the expectation that he’d play at full-back rather than on the wing where Nottingham Forest have a host of accomplished options already.
Lewis-Potter starred in League 1 and the Championship for Hull City, scoring 25 goals in two seasons from the wing but has found the going tougher in the Premier League so far. Turning an £11m-£15m profit on Lewis-Potter would be a bit of a coup for the Bees.
Senne Lammens - loan from Manchester United - No, this one doesn’t make sense to us either.
Wood headlines departures
Chris Wood - £8m to Pumas - After making his senior debut aged 14 (really he’s the original Max Dowman), Wood’s played in England since 2009 representing 12 different teams but looked like he could end his career at the City Ground when he signed an extension until 2027.
Having made his Premier League debut in 2009, Wood had to wait over 3,000 days until his first top-flight start in 2017 (Danny Ward holds the record for longest wait between those two milestones apparently, at over 9 years while James Milner had the shortest at just two days) but it looked like the late bloomer was continuing his vintage form at the start of 2025/26.
But after a brace on the opening day at Brentford, Wood has drawn a blank in the Premier League and he’s only scored one more in all competitions. The obvious move would be elsewhere in England, but moving to Mexico City-based Pumas would certainly be a stark change of scene.
John - loan to Nice - Signed off the back of his Club World Cup heroics for Botafogo, including a famous 1-0 win over Paris Saint-Germain, John Victor’s only minutes for Forest so far came in that defeat to Swansea so a temporary move would be smart.
Dilane Bakwa - loan to Leeds United - The tricky 23-year-old winger currently finds his path to the starting side blocked by a high-calibre list Dan Nodye while Leeds could use some spark in the final third so this one makes perfect sense.
In addition, Zyon Blake, Kristian Clarke and Matthew Orr all go on loan to Chesterfield Town, while Donnell McNeilly, Chinaza Nwosu and Cormac Daly temporarily relocate to Stockport County, Fleetwood Town and Partick Thistle respectively.
Finally Jamie Newton (Queen of the South) and Danny Anisjko (Valmiera) leave for nominal fees.
Continue Reading