Medical insider: Nottingham Forest have taken ‘major risk’ as Morgan Gibbs-White details emerge
Nottingham Forest have taken a “major risk” in signing so many players in one go – and the likes of Morgan Gibbs-White may have to be slowly integrated.
That is the view of medical expert Ben Dinnery, who runs the Premier Injuries site and has a background in injury and data analysis.
Forest announced the signing of Gibbs-White, 22, from Wolves on Friday (19 August).
Sky Sports reported later that day that the transfer fee is an initial £25million, rising to £42.5m with add-ons.
The midfielder is the 16th signing of the summer for Premier League new boys Forest.
Dinnery explained the complexities involved in getting so many players up to speed with Steve Cooper’s rhythms in training.
“It’s going to be difficult,” he told Football Insider’s Adam Williams.
“We are at a stage in the season where a lot of clubs have been arranging bounce games to get players on the fringes of the squad up to speed and to understand the philosophies of the manager.
“With Gibbs-White, he has the relationship with Cooper. He was part of the squad that won the Under-17 World Cup. He also had him on loan at Swansea. So. he knows what he expects from him in terms of performance and output.
“Elsewhere, it’s going to be calculated risk in terms of when you can look to utilise these players. Having five substitutes will help. That will help introduce players gradually.
“If new signings have to get minutes from the bench, they will take that. But it is a major risk because it’s not often you have players like Bruno Fernandes who come in and hit the ground running.
“More often than not, there is a period of adaptation to a new environment, a new language, new facilities.”
In other news, Nottingham Forest set to beat Everton to Neal Maupay signing after talks.