‘Nottingham Forest to sell duo to avoid breaching PSR rules’
Nottingham Forest endured a difficult end to the 2024-25 campaign, winning just two of their last eight league games and missing out on a Champions League place by a single point.
Top four regulars for much of the campaign, Nuno Espirito Santo‘s side had to settle for a spot in the UEFA Conference League next term following their final-day defeat to Chelsea.
Despite a 20-goal return from striker Chris Wood and 13 clean sheets for goalkeeper Matz Sels – a total only matched by Arsenal – the East Midlanders ultimately fell short of a place at European football’s top table.
While many City Ground regulars will see Forest’s seventh-place finish as a huge upgrade having watched their club battle relegation just 12 months earlier, the financial impact of missing out on the Champions League could be telling.
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 – claimed club owner Evangelos Marinakis has some big decisions to make.
Nottingham Forest’s ‘fight to keep squad intact’ will test owner this summer
Speaking on the new edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, Wyness claimed Forest and Marinakis may have to make do with a season of consolidation in 2025-26 having missed out on the Champions League.
While he isn’t ruling out new arrivals, potential player sales could impact The Reds’ ability to muster another top-four challenge next term.
| Team | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Points |
| 1. Liverpool (CL) | 38 | 25 | 9 | 4 | 84 |
| 2. Arsenal (CL) | 38 | 20 | 14 | 4 | 74 |
| 3. Man City (CL) | 38 | 21 | 8 | 9 | 71 |
| 4. Chelsea (CL) | 38 | 20 | 9 | 9 | 69 |
| 5. Newcastle (CL) | 38 | 20 | 6 | 12 | 66 |
| 6. Aston Villa (EL) | 38 | 19 | 9 | 10 | 66 |
| 7. Nottingham Forest (Conf L) | 38 | 19 | 8 | 11 | 65 |
Wyness told Football Insider: “We know they were planning for Champions League, because we know Marinakis parked his shares in anticipation of being there (with Forest) and with his other club, Olympiakos.
“They’d obviously given it serious thought, and there probably would have been two plans drawn up. In many ways, I felt the Champions League was going to come too early for Forest; it would have been too much for them.
“Now, it’s about trying to keep Nuno and the squad pretty much intact. I think (we’ll see) maybe two or three maximum in terms of incomers, but there may be one or two that have to go to make that Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR) requirement, because they’re not that far away themselves.
“Maranakis will back it, consolidating in the top 10. I don’t think they’ll be flying as high as they were this year, and it’s like the second record after you’ve had a hit single. Your second album is always the hardest.
“Europa League would have probably been about right for them, and they’ve ended up with the Conference League. But at the start of the season, after what they’d had in terms of touching relegation, a lot of fans would have been more than happy.”
James McAtee could make perfect Morgan Gibbs-White replacement
One player being touted as a possible arrival at the City Ground this summer is Manchester City midfielder James McAtee.
With the future of Forest and England star Morgan Gibbs-White unclear, former England goalkeeper Paul Robinson told Football Insider that McAtee can be an ideal replacement for the 25-year-old, who has emerged as a target for City boss Pep Guardiola.
McAtee has been suggested as the potential makeweight in a player-plus-cash deal to take Gibbs-White to the Etihad Stadium this summer.
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