Head coach Nuno Espirito Santo is hopeful Nottingham Forest can put the finishing touches to his squad before the transfer window closes.
Nicolo Savona is expected to become the Reds’ ninth arrival of the summer ahead of Sunday’s clash at home to West Ham United (2pm kick-off). The right-back is on the verge of completing a move from Juventus for a fee in the region of €15 million (£13m).
A left-back and a back-up goalkeeper remain on Nuno’s wish-list, while strengthening out wide is also a possibility. Clubs have until 7pm on Monday to get any remaining deals over the line, and the focus at the City Ground is on ensuring Forest have sufficient resources to compete on multiple fronts this season.
Asked whether he expects to secure the signings he wants, Nuno said: “Yes. Three days to go, a lot of work to be done but hopefully things work out well because we really need all the squad.
“We have integrated a lot of new players. We need to settle them well, in terms of the squad.
“We have a very good squad in terms of the atmosphere. All the players who have come in have been well received.
“The squad knows the philosophy and how we operate in terms of our work and our mentality. I hope they can transmit these values to the new players because it’s really important. It is then up to us, as the coaching staff, to get the best out of them.”
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Nuno criticised the slow pace of transfer activity at the club prior to the Reds’ opening game of the season. Further additions have been made since then, with Omari Hutchinson, James McAtee, Arnaud Kalimuendo and Douglas Luiz all having put pen to paper.
Nuno would have preferred signings to have been made earlier in the window. He places a big emphasis on pre-season when it comes to developing relationships within the dressing room.
However, work is ongoing to ensure the newcomers are settled in and understand what is expected of them. Nuno added: “In a perfect scenario, it would have been in the first day of pre-season (having the new players in). But that is very difficult.
“I spoke about that (before) as my major frustration. Now, to settle players during the competition, is harder but they are aware they need an extra conscious effort in terms of integration and understanding.
“The meetings are very important. Even if they don’t start, they are aware of the game plan and all these things. We are working hard on that aspect.”
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