Nuno Espirito Santo and Nottingham Forest have had a unique summer in terms of planning their transfer activity. When the window opened, they were preparing a squad capable of playing in the domestic competitions and in the Europa Conference League following qualification via their 7th-place Premier League finish.
However, since UEFA's decision to have them swap competitions with Crystal Palace, they now have to prepare a Europa League-quality squad. As a part of this, they have been trying to sign Manchester City youngster James McAtee.
The 22-year-old has previously been spoken about glowingly by manager Pep Guardiola: “Macca has this quality... He has the ability to create chances, he is there".
City are currently looking at shrinking their squad however, with club record signing Jack Grealish being loaned out to Everton, and Forest not only see this as an opportunity to sign McAtee, but also another young City talent.
Forest bid for Lewis in double City swoop
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In addition to their pursuit of McAtee, Forest have submitted a bid to Manchester City of £25.8 million for Rico Lewis. This comes from reports from France via Get French Football News.
The offer is thought to be an initial £21.5 million transfer fee, and the rest consists of performance-related add-ons. This bid has been turned down, and Lewis remains under contract with City until 2028. Guardiola has praised Lewis's versatility, saying: “He is an exceptional player, offensively and defensively. He can play in different positions; he helps us to play.”
Based on these comments in may take a large bid to convince the treble-winning manager to part ways with Lewis.
If Forest comes back in with a bid that City find acceptable, then they will open negotiations with Lewis's agents. Lewis is with CAA Base LTD, who Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis has extensive experience with in the past, as they represent current Forest players Chris Wood and Ryan Yates, as well as the club's former manager Steve Cooper.
Forest recruiting for the club's future
Last season in the Premier League, Forest's average age for their starting 11 was 26.1 years old. This put them pretty much mid-table for average age out of the Premier League teams. However, this summer, there has clearly been a conscious effort to buy young.
The permanent signings they have made so far this window are Dan Ndoye (24), Igor Jesus (24) and Jair Cunha (20) - if they sign Rico Lewis (20) and James McAtee (22), the average age of their signings this summer will be 22 years old.
Additionally, the oldest two players that they have brought in this window (excluding 29-year-old goalkeeper Angus Gunn on a free) are two years younger than the squad average last season.
While Alan Hansen's famous quote of "You'll never win anything with kids" didn't age well, it does still encapsulate the trepidation many fans feel about relying on young players over more experienced ones, especially when Forest will be playing in four competitions this season. But While Forest's new recruits are young, they're all experienced and have at least a few seasons of football under them where they have matured into professional players.
This transfer strategy of young but proven players won't only serve Forest this season but long into the future.