Nottingham Forest have spent the summer trimming the fat rather than flexing their chequebook for spectacle. After years of churn and scattergun recruitment, this window has carried a different feel: targeted, deliberate, almost restrained.
At the heart of it is Oliver Glasner’s conviction. The Austrian has never been a coach who craves a bloated dressing room. He wants clarity, not congestion. So there was never going to be a repeat of last year’s 13-strong influx. This time, every signing had to move the needle.
Delap as the new spearhead
Liam Delap is the headline act. A £50m investment is a statement in any language, but in Forest’s, it signals a changing of the guard up front.
Chris Wood has been a reliable presence, a totem in both boxes, but Delap offers something different: a long-term focal point, younger legs, sharper edges. After a grim spell at Chelsea that stalled his rise, regular football at the City Ground offers him something priceless – rhythm. Confidence. A chance to be more than a cautionary tale of a talent lost in a big club’s shadows.
Forest are betting that with minutes and trust, Delap’s movement, aggression and finishing will give their attack a new dimension. Not just this season, but for seasons to come.
Diomande and a back line with bite
Behind him, Ousmane Diomande’s £34m arrival feels just as significant. Forest’s run to the Europa League semi-finals last season exposed their defensive limits when the games piled up and bodies broke down. By the time they faced Aston Villa in that heavy second-leg defeat, they were running on fumes.
Diomande is meant to change that picture. Glasner sees him slipping into a back three alongside Murillo and Nikola Milenkovic, a blend of power, composure and anticipation. On paper, it’s a unit that can defend high, cover ground and still look assured when the tempo spikes.
There is an edge to this recruitment: not just adding numbers, but tightening the spine.
Familiar faces, fresh pressure
The right flank also carries a new tension. Daniel Munoz has followed Glasner from Crystal Palace, a trusted lieutenant who knows exactly what the manager demands from his full-backs.
That is bad news for anyone seeking comfort in incumbency. Ola Aina, versatile and often dependable, suddenly feels under pressure. Munoz’s arrival doesn’t just add competition; it redraws the pecking order. When a manager brings “his” player, it usually means one thing – he expects that side of the pitch to run to his script.
In midfield, Xaver Schlager offers similar familiarity. Glasner knows him from their days together at Wolfsburg. He knows his temperament, his work rate, his tactical discipline. There is no marquee replacement for Elliot Anderson, no single signing to mirror his profile, but Schlager’s presence suggests Glasner has prioritised trust and understanding over headline noise.
Less chaos, more control
The most striking element of this Forest squad, though, is what hasn’t happened. No avalanche of new faces. No frantic late rebuild. After last summer’s whirlwind, there is an unusual sense of continuity.
The club also step into this campaign without the extra weight of European football. Last year’s continental adventure was exhilarating but brutal, stretching a thin squad to breaking point. This time, the calendar is kinder. With fewer midweek miles in the legs, Glasner can lean on a smaller group without fearing the same kind of late-season collapse.
He has been clear in his messaging: he is not a magician, and Forest should not expect instant transformation. That line carried a warning when he first arrived, a reminder that there are no shortcuts at this level.
Now, it sounds slightly different.
The squad is leaner. The key additions are his kind of players. The churn has slowed. For the first time since Forest’s return to the Premier League, a manager has both the tools and the time to shape a team in his image.
No excuses. Just opportunity.
