On a wall in his first-floor office at Nottingham Forest’s training ground, Nuno Espirito Santo has a giant diary listing all of his first-team assignments in the 2024-25 season.
Now registrations refer exclusively to national football: Premier League, Carabao Cup, FA Cup. But this club is thinking big. Much bigger.
On the pitch, the ultimate goal is the Champions League. Forest are fourth in the table and are desperate to revive the spirit of 1979 and 1980, when Brian Clough led them to successive European Cups. Outside of it, they are trying to conquer the world.
The Premier League’s financial rules have made it extremely difficult for ambitious clubs to break into English football’s elite. Just ask Newcastle and Aston Villa, whose wealthy patrons are allowed to spend only a fraction of what they have due to profitability and sustainability regulations.
Forests are no different. If they qualify for European competition and make another move for a player like Omar Marmoush, Eintracht Frankfurt’s impressive striker, they may have to sell a key man to keep the books healthy.
That’s why Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis, who made his fortune in global maritime trade, is trying to achieve success in another way. Former Arsenal sporting director Edu will almost certainly join next year to oversee a group that includes Greek giants Olympiacos (Marinakis’s first love), as well as Rio Ave in Portugal and, eventually, a club prominent in Brazil. Marinakis has shown great interest in Vasco Da Gama in Rio de Janeiro and, in recent days, there have been signs in Brazil that he is looking at Sao Paulo as a possible alternative.
Nottingham Forest aiming for Champions League after impressive start to season
Nuno Espirito Santo is the person in charge of achieving that success on the field, something he has done well lately.
Evangelos Marinakis tries to achieve success in another way in the Premier League
Forest has paid close attention to the success of the City Football Group, whose flagship club is Manchester City but which also runs 12 others on five continents. Recent changes at board level, including the arrival of the experienced Paul Tyrrell as chief operating officer, reflect Forest’s desire to adapt its own model accordingly.
The city has done a lot of legwork to establish itself in the United States and Forest will try to do the same. It would not be a surprise if Forest spent time in the United States as part of their pre-season preparations next summer. All with the goal of creating a more powerful brand that can increase income and make it easier to adapt to those annoying spending rules.
As Wrexham’s huge success across the Atlantic demonstrates, American audiences love a compelling story, and what could be better than Forest’s? In just over four years they went from 13th place in the Second Division to the top of European football, and they stayed there. The story is brilliantly told in the 2015 film ‘I Believe in Miracles’.
While the current forestry hierarchy rightly embraces history, they do not want it to define them forever. The time has come to write new chapters.
They have every reason to be optimistic. Forest go into fourth place at the weekend in the Premier League and anyone who thinks they’ve had a good run of games, think again.
Forest won for the first time at Anfield and Old Trafford in the same season. They drew at Chelsea and Brighton, beat Aston Villa at home and have only been beaten twice, in 3-0 defeats to Arsenal and Manchester City.
Forest recruited haphazardly after being promoted in 2022, but have been much smarter since the summer 2023 window, when Anthony Elanga, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Murillo and Nicolas Dominguez arrived for a combined total of around £40m. Now they wouldn’t listen to offers lower than that for any of those people.
Progress also brings challenges. Top scorer Chris Wood is currently in talks over a new deal and, as Mail Sport revealed on December 18, is seeking a deal of at least two years that would keep him near the top of Forest’s pay scale. Wood earns around £100,000 a week and the club’s initial offer was a one-year extension.
Former Arsenal sporting director Edu will almost certainly join next year to oversee Marinakis’ football team.
Forest will also try to conquer the United States and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see them get there in pre-season.
Unless they find a way to achieve this before January 1, Wood will be free to sign a pre-contract with a foreign club for the 2025-26 campaign, although both parties are keen to ensure the 33-year-old remains at the club. City land. Either way, expect Forest to look for another striker in January and if they can sign one, the club will likely listen to offers for Taiwo Awoniyi.
Mail Sport understands that star playmaker Morgan Gibbs-White has also been in contract talks and is seeking a significant increase on the five-year deal he signed two and a half years ago, worth around £60,000-a-week.
Gibbs-White has since established himself as one of the best attacking midfielders outside of the so-called ‘big six’ and attracted interest from Newcastle and Aston Villa last summer. He has also captained the team and become an England international. Forest believe Gibbs-White, who turns 25 in January, is capable of achieving even more than the 13 goals and 20 assists he has produced in his colours.
While Nuno and Gibbs-White didn’t see eye to eye at Wolves, their relationship blossomed at Forest and Nuno has rediscovered his charm. In his first weeks at Forest we saw the withdrawn character who lasted only 17 games at Tottenham.
This season the Wolves version is back. During four years at Molineux, Nuno led his team to consecutive seventh-place finishes in the Premier League, as well as an FA Cup semi-final and a Europa League quarter-final.
Many Forest fans would be delighted if Nuno emulated that, but the owners are looking for even more. A repeat of Nuno’s Wolves results would simply be a stage in Forest’s journey, not the destination itself.
It’s worth remembering that Forest thought twice about sacking Nuno last season, as they battled relegation and had the stars aligned differently, long-admired Fulham manager Marco Silva could now be within reach. post. At least for now, the decision to stay with Nuno has produced spectacular results.
He works in a training base that his predecessors could only have dreamed of. Around £2 million was spent replacing pitches there and at the City Ground. The number of data analysts has tripled, changing rooms have been improved and much more attention is paid to recovery and nutrition.
Chris Wood (left) and Morgan Gibbs-White are currently in talks to sign new contracts.
A rise back to the top of English football would mirror the achievements of the great Brian Clough.
Nuno has his smile back and Forest has made a number of improvements throughout the place.
Nuno requires players to eat together and spend time in each other’s company and Forest have satisfied him with a huge upgrade to common areas at the training ground.
Nuno, never one to make bold statements, surprisingly did nothing to downplay Forest’s prospects after they beat Aston Villa 2-1 on December 14. Maybe he’s even thinking about writing some exotic names on that wall sign.