It has been an exceptional start to the 2024/25 campaign for Nottingham Forest. So far this season, they have proven to be the Premier Leagie’s surprise package, and currently find themselves third in the top flight, with 19 points to their name so far.
It may well surprise the masses that the Midlands outfit are doing so well, with BBC Sport’s chief football writer Phil McNulty one of those. In his pre-season predictions, the journalist predicted Forest to finish 16th in the table, explaining that he can “see them staying up”, but not really pushing any further.
Their transfers over the past few seasons have certainly put them in a good position from which they have been able to reach their heights of the top four at this stage of the season. The 2023/24 summer was a particularly good window.
Forest’s 2023/24 summer signings
The Midlands club did not hold back when it came to spending money two summers ago. They splashed the cash on a number of players. The most expensive incoming that summer was Ibrahim Sangare, who joined on transfer deadline day for £30m from Dutch outfit PSV Eindhoven.
Forest also brought three key attackers to the City Ground that summer. Anthony Elanga joined the club from Manchester United for a fee in the region of £15m, with fellow winger Callum Hudson-Odoi also making the move from Chelsea for just £3m. Chris Wood, who has been superb up front this term, was another addition from Newcastle after a loan spell.
There were also some significant additions at the back, too. Forest added young defenders Andrew Omobamidele from Norwich City and Murillo from Brazilian side Corinthians. Versatile full-back Ola Aina, also a Cobham graduate like Hudson-Odoi, made the move to the Midlands on a free transfer from Italian side Torino.
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Other major signings in the summer of 2023 included Nicolas Dominguez, with number one goalkeeper Mats Selz joining in January. It was a busy time at the City Ground. However, there was one addition that summer whose move to the East Midlands did not quite work out how he may have hoped. That player is Nuno Tavares.
Tavares’ record at Forest
Forest signed Portuguese full-back Tavares on a season-long loan deal from Arsenal, which reportedly did not include an option to buy him at the end of the deal. He played one season at the Emirates before moving on loan to French side Marseille, and then to the City Ground.
Former Premier League player Noel Whelan described his performances at the Emirates Stadium as “questionable” prior to his temporary move to the South of France in 2022. Therefore, it could potentially have been considered a risky move by the Premier League side. The youngster made 28 appearances for the Gunners, and had one goal and two assists to the name.
Sadly, the left-back really struggled in that famous Garibaldi Red shirt. He made just 12 appearances all season, with injury affecting his availability at times. Eight of those games came in the Premier League, with the other four coming in the FA Cup.
With his performances in North London and the East Midlands in mind, it is perhaps unsurprising that the Gunners decided to move him on this summer. The decision to move the full-back on this summer was made by Edu, the former Sporting Director at the Emirates Stadium. The Brazilian recently left Arsenal and will take up an unspecified role working for Forest’s owner, Evangelos Marinakis, which will include working for the Midlands side in some capacity.
Tavares left Arsenal to join Italian side Lazio this summer. He made the move on loan, but there is an option to buy him at the end of the campaign, which could turn into an obligatory deal if certain conditions are met. So far, he is excelling in the Italian capital.
Tavares’ record this season
Perhaps something that fans of Forest and Arsenal alike did not see coming this season was Tavares becoming one of Europe’s premium creative forces. It has been a simply superb start to life in Lazio colours, and he has taken to life in Serie A like a duck to water.
The 24-year-old, who is uncapped by Portugal at international level, will surely not have long to wait for his first cap for the Selecao das Quinas, having been dubbed “unstoppable” and “one of the signings of the season” by The Athletic’s James Horncastle.
In eight games in the Italian capital so far, Tavares already has eight assists.
He has missed three games, being an unused substitute for the first couple and supposed for their most recent clash. On two occasions, the Lazio defender has registered two assists in a single game, coming against AC Milan in a 2-2 draw, and Genoa in a 3-0 victory.
What is perhaps most impressive about Tavares’ form this season is that no player in Europe’s big five leagues has more assists than the Lazio defender, as per FBref. Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka has seven and is second in the list, with Forest’s nearest player that of Elliot Anderson, who has four assists to his name.
Player
90s played
Assists
Expected assists
Nuno Tavares
7.2
8
2.4xA
Bukayo Saka
8.2
7
3.4xA
Lamine Yamal
10.8
7
3xA
Harry Kane
8.3
6
2.2xA
Omar Marmoush
8.3
6
2.3xA
Joao Neves
8.7
6
2.5xA
Raphinha
11
6
3.7xA
His form has been so good that club president and owner Claudio Lotito explained that he “won’t sell Tavares” at all, explaining that a price of £59m would not even be enough to convince them to sell their star man after the start to the season he has had.
Looking back on it, Forest may well wish things had turned out differently. He is ripping things up in a country ranked second in UEFA’s club coefficients, only behind England.
The City Ground faithful could well look back at Tavares’ loan spell last season and wonder where it went wrong. They surely wish he had discovered this sort of form…
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