Chris Wood sends two-word Nottingham Forest message after confirmed exit news
Nottingham Forest’s crucial summer of transfer business is already underway as they prepare for a return to European football.
Nuno Espirito Santo will lead Forest onto the continent for the first time in 29 years next season, after they defied the odds and upset all predictions to secure a seventh-placed finish in the Premier League.
Forest occupied a Champions League place for much of the campaign and were third in the table before a poor run in their last five games saw them drop into seventh, but history was still made in the process.
The Reds missed out on the £70million windfall Champions League qualification would’ve brought, but Evangelos Marinakis has a summer of spending planned in preparation for the UEFA Conference League.
Former Nottingham Forest star sends Wood tribute
Forest are yet to sign anyone so far this summer despite links to the likes of Jordan Henderson and their involvement in a multi-club battle for Juventus’ Timothy Weah, but several exits have been sanctioned.
Harry Toffolo headlined a list of 13 released first-team and academy players, while academy starlet Jack Perkins and Republic of Ireland defender Andrew Omobamidele have been sold for undisclosed fees.
Strasbourg activated their option to buy Omobamidele permanently after he featured 11 times for them on loan in the second half of last season, and the 23-year-old posed for a photo in his off-season.
Omobamidele sported a New Zealand shirt with ‘WOOD 9’ on its back in a post on his Instagram story (28 June), and the Forest striker shared this image with the two-word message of: “My guy”.
Nottingham Forest need new Wood alternative next season
Football Insider Verdict
Wood‘s 20 Premier League goals helped fire Forest into the upper reaches of the table and amounted to by far his best tally in the top-flight, but Nuno and Marinakis will know that reinforcements are needed.
Forest were given a boost in their bid to keep hold of Morgan Gibbs-White after Manchester City turned their transfer attention elsewhere, but another striker to complement Wood certainly wouldn’t go amiss.
Brentford’s Yoane Wissa has long been admired by Forest and was the subject of a £40m bid in January, and with Thomas Frank’s departure set to spark an exodus in West London, the time is now for the Reds to make a real statement.