Ciaran Morrison

Tue 24 March 2026 7:00, UK

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Nottingham Forest may only be able to go ahead with their City Ground expansion plans if they have a winning team on the pitch.

That is according to ex-Everton, Aston Villa, and Aberdeen chief executive Keith Wyness, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, who states Nottingham Forest must think long-term about the project.

Work on expanding the City Ground could commence this summer, with the club eventually wanting the stadium to be able to host 52,000 spectators.

Nottingham Forest had to reduce ticket prices recently for their home match against Midtjylland in order to entice fans to watch the Europa League first leg tie.

Season ticket prices have been frozen at Nottingham Forest for next season, with fans having voiced their frustration at the cost of watching their team.

Nottingham Forest questioned over ‘big expansion’

Everton’s former chief Keith Wyness – who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – believes owner Evangelos Mariankis will be looking at Nottingham Forest returning to European football next season.

Speaking on the new edition of Football Insider‘s Inside Track podcast, Wyness thinks the club need to be mindful of their spending if they are going to find an expanded City Ground half full.

He told Football Insider‘s Inside Track podcast: “They’ll be looking at that and thinking, ok what is the plan long term?

“Can we really sustain the big expansion? And of course, the answer will be from Marinakis that he’s going to put together a winning squad that is going to keep Forest as it was just the other season. And we got short memories, but they were there challenging for a long time for European spots.

“And he believes that ‘we can do that again’, and he will demand it. Otherwise, more heads will roll. But if it’s success, then yes, they can do it. But as you say, it’s a very precarious situation to invest all that new money into a big stadium and then find it half full.”  

Igor Jesus transfer plan revealed

Former Manchester United chief scout Mick Brown told Football Insider that Nottingham Forest are looking to replace Igor Jesus in the summer transfer window.

Nottingham Forest are scouting the transfer market as Jesus has only scored three Premier League goals this season, whilst Chris Wood’s campaign has been hampered by a long-term injury.

The number nine position will be a priority for the Tricky Trees in the summer if they remain in the Premier League, which was boosted by a 3-0 win over Tottenham last time out.