Nottingham Forest's Ambitious Summer Strategy: A New Era
Nottingham Forest chose a different kind of ambition this summer. Less noise, more nuance.
After years of churn, Oliver Glasner has drawn a clear line: smaller squad, sharper edge. The Austrian has never been a coach who craves a bloated dressing room, and Forest’s business reflects that. No scattergun spree, no dizzying list of arrivals. Just a handful of targeted signings designed to raise the ceiling without crowding the room.
The headline move is Liam Delap. £50m for a striker who arrives with scars from a bruising spell at Chelsea, but also with the profile to lead Forest’s attack for years. He is not a short-term fix; he is the succession plan. Chris Wood has been a dependable presence, but Delap offers a different gear – younger legs, more mobility, a centre-forward who can grow with this project. Regular football at the City Ground should give him what he never found at Stamford Bridge: rhythm, confidence, continuity.
Behind him, the foundations have been reinforced rather than ripped up. Ousmane Diomande’s £34m signing is the statement at the back. Glasner wants him to slot into a back three alongside Murillo and Nikola Milenkovic, a blend of youth, aggression and authority that could define Forest’s defensive identity. It is a move that speaks to trust in structure, not just star power.
On the right flank, there is a familiar face for the manager. Daniel Munoz has followed Glasner from Crystal Palace, and his arrival puts serious pressure on Ola Aina’s place. Aina has been a steady performer, but Munoz knows exactly what Glasner demands from his wing-backs: relentless running, quick decision-making, and bravery on the ball. That battle could become one of the quiet subplots of Forest’s season.
In midfield, the change is subtler but no less significant. Elliot Anderson’s departure leaves a creative gap, and there is no like-for-like marquee name to replace him. Instead, Glasner has turned to trust. Xaver Schlager, his former lieutenant at Wolfsburg, comes in as a player the coach knows inside out. Schlager brings bite, intelligence and tactical discipline, the kind of midfielder who knits a system together rather than dominates the highlight reel.
This time, Forest are not building a new team from scratch. They are refining one. Last summer’s 13 arrivals left the squad looking like a work in progress for months. Now, there is something rare at the City Ground: continuity. Faces are familiar, partnerships are established, and the new signings are being asked to elevate the core, not replace it.
Crucially, there is no European distraction. The run to the Europa League semi-finals last season was thrilling but brutal. By the time they met Aston Villa in that heavy second-leg defeat, Forest were running on fumes, bodies and minds stretched to breaking point. That kind of schedule exposed the limits of a squad still learning to play together.
This year, the calendar is kinder. No Thursday nights across the continent, no constant rotation to survive three games a week. For a coach who prefers a tight group, that matters. It gives Glasner space to coach, to drill his ideas, to build habits rather than patch problems.
He has been honest about the process. He has said he is not a magician. No promises of instant transformation, no grandstanding. But now, for the first time since he walked through the door, he has a squad shaped in his image, a group small enough to manage and strong enough to compete.
The excuses have gone. The platform is his. What he builds from here will define Forest’s next chapter.
