Following their promotion back to the Premier League in 2022, Nottingham Forest made some questionable transfer market selections.
Signings of players like Jonjo Shelvey and Omar Richards have just not worked out, with the latter spending the 2024/25 season on loan at sister club Rio Avenue in Portugal.
Shelvey joined from Newcastle United during the January transfer window in 2023, making only eight appearances before being shipped away to Turkey following an alleged altercation with then-manager Steve Cooper.
Such signings definitely contributed to the club’s failure to meet the PSR limit for the previous fiscal year, with the Reds receiving a four-point deduction last season.
However, another player has failed to make an impact at the City Ground, and his big-money move now appears to be a complete waste of money.
Emmanuel Dennis’s spell with Nottingham Forest
After joining the club for £20 million from Watford in the summer of 2022, striker Emmanuel Dennis came in the East Midlands with a lot of excitement after scoring ten goals for the Hornets the previous season.
However, his move to Forest has been nothing short of disastrous, with the Nigerian making only 25 appearances since his arrival two years ago.
Due to his poor play on Trentside, he spent last season on two different loans at Istanbul Basaksehir before returning to old club Watford for the second half of the season.
Despite scoring four goals in the Championship, he did not make a single matchday appearance in Nuno Espírito Santo’s team throughout the first three games of the current season.
Despite his recent struggles at Forest, he is still valued higher than one player who was destined for great things at City Ground.
Emmanuel Dennis’ market value in 2024.
Arvin Appiah progressed through the club’s youth before making his first-team debut as an 85th-minute substitute in a Carabao Cup defeat to Burton Albion in 2018.
The kid managed to get on the scoresheet, but it wasn’t enough to turn the game around – however his impact resulted in multiple first-team outings during the 2018/19 season.
Appiah made six Championship appearances that season before a surprising £8 million move to Spanish club Almeria in the summer.
While it may have been a controversial move at the time, he has failed to advance in his career, scoring only five goals in the last five years while playing for six different teams.
The now-23-year-old, who plays for Nacional in Portugal, is only worth £337k, according to Transfermarkt, but Dennis is still worth £3.5 million despite his poor performance in the Premier League.
On retrospect, selling Appiah was a wise decision by the club’s administration, as his career has failed to continue the trajectory that he was on during his time at the City Ground.
Given his lack of influence, the club must sever ties with Dennis to prevent losing as much of the £20 million cost as possible, since his tenure on Trentside has been nothing short of disastrous.
