Manager Steve Cooper (pictured) has insisted Nottingham Forest's lavish summer transfer window, with £165million spent, marks their best chance of remaining in the Premier League

Steve Cooper defends Nottingham Forest signing TWENTY-ONE players as he insists the club have ’embraced the unique challenge’ to stay in the Premier League and are ‘investing’ in their future after £165m overhaul

  • Steve Cooper has defended Nottingham Forest’s lavish summer of spending 
  • The newly promoted side splashed out around £165million on 21 new signings
  • Those figures are unprecedented both in terms of money and number of players
  • But manager Cooper insists the Midlands side are ‘investing’ well in their future 

Steve Cooper has insisted Nottingham Forest’s lavish summer of spending marks their best chance of remaining in the Premier League.

The newly promoted side have splashed out an astonishing £165million on 21 players in the summer transfer in a desperate attempt to avoid relegation.

Despite the unprecedented splurge, Forest manager Cooper has defended their methods, claiming they have ’embraced the unique challenge’ of staying up.

Manager Steve Cooper (pictured) has insisted Nottingham Forest's lavish summer transfer window, with £165million spent, marks their best chance of remaining in the Premier League

Manager Steve Cooper (pictured) has insisted Nottingham Forest’s lavish summer transfer window, with £165million spent, marks their best chance of remaining in the Premier League

The arrival of Wolves defender Willy Boly was one of three signings on transfer deadline day

The arrival of Wolves defender Willy Boly was one of three signings on transfer deadline day

Former Manchester United star Jesse Lingard was one of the most eye-catching acquisitions

Former Manchester United star Jesse Lingard was one of the most eye-catching acquisitions

Promoted Forest’s £165m TROLLEY DASH

Morgan Gibbs-White, Wolves

Taiwo Awoniyi, Union Berlin

Neco Williams, Liverpool

Emmanuel Dennis, Watford

Orel Mangala, Stuttgart

Moussa Niakhate, Mainz

Giulian Biancone, Troyes

Lewis O’Brien, Huddersfield

Remo Freuler, Atalanta

Omar Richards, Bayern Munich

Renan Lodi, Atletico Madrid

Hwang Ui-jo, Bordeaux

Willy Boly, Wolves

Harry Toffolo, Huddersfield

Josh Bowler, Blackpool

Brandon Aguilera, Alajuelense

Jesse Lingard, Manchester United

Cheikhou Kouyate, Crystal Palace

Wayne Hennessey, Burnley

Dean Henderson, Manchester United

Loic Bade, Rennes

He said: ‘There will always be a turnaround with some players coming and going, but there will never be as many as this summer. 

‘It’s nice to know that most of the players you’ve got in are your own.

‘You’re investing in them. I don’t just mean financially investing, but also football programme investing, in something that you can grow over a period of time.

‘That’s important to me, especially as there’s quite a lot of players in there who have still got a lot of time ahead of them. 

‘They are still shaping their careers and their profile of player.

‘It’s been a fairly unique summer, in terms of the turnaround. It was always going to be a unique challenge with the numbers, then added to getting promotion and a different level of player that you have to look at. We’ve embraced that.’

Forest’s huge outlay is more than that of Barcelona, Real Madrid, Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain.

It also represents more than all the clubs in the Dutch top-flight combined, putting the club back among the European elite in terms of spending.

When Forest won promotion via the play-offs in May, following a top-flight absence of 23 years, owner and shipping magnate Evangelos Marinakis promised Nottingham he would provide their team ‘ammunition’ to deliver success. 

And the Greek has spent an eye-popping £163.4million on transfers, which is a record for newly promoted side in the Premier League. 

In the English top flight, Forest’s outlay lags behind only Manchester United, Chelsea and West Ham United.

The most eye-catching acquisitions were Morgan Gibbs-White, bought from Wolves for an initial fee of £25m, but a sum that could rise to £42.5m with achievable add-ons and further bonuses, and Jesse Lingard on a free from Manchester United.

Forest also spent an initial £25m, potentially rising to £42.5m, on Morgan Gibbs-White (above)

Forest also spent an initial £25m, potentially rising to £42.5m, on Morgan Gibbs-White (above)

Advertisement

You May Also Like

Kyle Walker blasts ‘unacceptable’ Man City draw at Nottingham Forest, fuming at ‘two points dropped’

Kyle Walker blasts ‘UNACCEPTABLE’ Manchester City draw at Nottingham Forest as defender…

James Maddison has ‘single-handedly’ changed the way Tottenham play, Jamie Redknapp claims, as pundit hails performance in North London Derby

By Samuel Draper For Mailonline Published: 15:48 EDT, 24 September 2023 |…

David Dein admits he is ‘still not over’ his hurtful exit from Arsenal 15 years ago

Even now, all these years later, David Dein still has The Unpleasant…

Mohamed Salah called up by Egypt for tournament this month despite Liverpool request to rest the 31-year-old forward amid concerns over his hamstring injury

Mohamed Salah missed Saturday’s 1-0 victory over Nottingham Forest Liverpool had asked…