Steve Cooper defends Nottingham Forest signing TWENTY-ONE players in £165m summer transfer overhaul
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
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
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)
For all the latest Sports News Click Here
