Nottingham Forest’s lopsided squad has played a significant role in their massive operational deficits.
Transfer journalist Pete O’Rourke claimed on the latest edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast that the Reds need to “get their act together” because they had four senior goalkeepers on their books.
Forest’s annual reports, issued last week (28 March), revealed an operational deficit of £61.5 million, a 20% increase over the previous season’s £51 million.
O’Rourke was emphatic that poor transfer moves, particularly the signings of shot-stoppers Matt Turner, Wayne Hennessy, Matz Sels, and Odysseas Vlachodimos, demonstrate that the club has made mistakes in recent windows.
Nottingham Forest’s weak transfer policy is a primary contributor to operating losses.
Hennessey, 37, arrived from Burnley for free in the summer of 2022, but has only made nine appearances.
Turner, 29, joined Forest from Arsenal for an estimated £10 million last summer, during which time the club spent £7.7 million for Benfica’s Vlachodimos, also 29.
The following winter transfer season, Forest spent again on a new goalkeeper, this time paying a reported £5 million for Sels, 32, from Ligue 1 side Strasbourg.
Vlachodimos has made only seven appearances in all competitions, and Turner was demoted to the bench in February in favour of Sels.
The club’s questionable spending recently resulted in a four-point deduction for violating the Premier League’s profit and sustainability criteria, putting their top-flight existence under serious peril.
“Forest’s operating loss is obviously a concern,” O’Rourke explained on the Inside Track program.
“There have been a lot of mistakes in the transfer windows, with nearly 40 players signed in the last few seasons.
“It is not sustainable for anyone, and they needed to get their act together away from the pitch and try to balance their books.
“I believe the squad is lopsided.
“They have four goalkeepers on their books right now, which is head-scratching really.”
