‘Evangelos Marinakis move makes a mockery of Nottingham Forest model’
Nottingham Forest have made a significant ownership change after Evangelos Marinakis has taken a step back at the City Ground.
The Greek billionaire has been in charge since 2017 after purchasing the club alongside Sokratis Kominakis.
Marinakis has now ceased control of Forest following a string of submissions on Companies House earlier this week.
It is understood the change in ownership at the City Ground is in preparation for Forest’s likely qualification for European football.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s side and Marinakis-owned Olympiacos could both be competing in the Champions League next season, with Uefa’s rules prohibiting clubs from being controlled by the same owners or directors from competing in the same competition.
Forest currently sit sixth in the Premier League table, while Olympiacos are on course to secure the Greek Super League title.
Finance expert Stefan Borson exclusively told Football Insider Forest’s ownership update makes a “mockery” of the multi-club model.
INEOS previously faced a similar issue with Manchester United and Nice, while the City Football Group put some of its shares in Girona into a blind trust to allow them to play in the Champions League alongside Manchester City this season.
Nottingham Forest to face ownership ‘problem’ every year
Borson revealed Forest could face the same ownership problem every year.
He told Football Insider: “You have got no choice.
“If you’ve got multiple clubs in European competition, you’ve got to effectively choose. He’s not in control, but I think he might have something to say in the background. But who knows?
“I would say it does make a mockery and does question the whole multi-club situation, especially where you’ve got multiple clubs around Europe that are successful.
“It’s not a unique situation to Marinakis. It’s going to happen. It’s already happened in the City Football Group with Girona. It’s going to happen inevitably with Strasbourg and BlueCo. It happened with United and Nice, with INEOS.
“It’s just one of the things that you’ve just got to deal with. The problem is if they’re all regularly successful, so your multi-club model is working over and over again every year, then you’re going to have this problem every year.
“If it’s not working, then you’re asking yourself how come we’re not qualifying for the Champions League or for Europe, which will then say that the whole model has not worked.
“I think if they don’t change the rules, it is going to make people think twice about whether the multi-club model works in Europe. You are just going to have to do this every year.
“You are also not going to be able to do transfers between the clubs. If you look at City and Girona and Nice and United, I think they were told they had a two-year ban from doing deals between the clubs.
“If all of these rules were in there, they’re going to stop the multi-club organisations working properly, and then you’re going to question what’s the point.”
James McAtee could quit Man City after Nottingham Forest swoop
In terms of on-field issues, Football Insider revealed on 29 April James McAtee is considering leaving Man City following interest from Forest.
The 22-year-old has been heavily linked with Nuno’s side, while other Premier League clubs are also monitoring his situation at the Etihad.
| Appearances | 26 |
| Goals | 7 |
| Assists | 0 |
It is believed McAtee, who has registered seven goals in 26 appearances this season, wants to kickstart his career and may have to agree a move elsewhere to make that happen.
The midfielder’s contract is set to expire in June 2026 and Man City are keen to tie him down to a new deal to protect his value.
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