Nottingham Forest are set to return to the Premier League after a 23-year wait which included 20 seasons in the Championship and three years in League One, England’s third-tier football league competition.
The two-time UEFA European Cup winners became the first team to win the continent’s most prestigious title and then play in the third division of their country’s domestic league. To prevent the same situation once again in the future, the club is investing heavily in the new players to help them avoid relegation and stay afloat in arguably the toughest league in world football.
In June, Nottingham Forest have secured the services of Liverpool academy graduate and Nigeria striker Taiwo Awoniyi from Union Berlin. The 24-year-old scored 20 goals in 43 appearances across all competitions last season helping the Berlin-based side qualify for their first-ever UEFA Europa League campaign in the last 20 years.
Having strengthen their attacking department by landing Awoniyi, the newly promoted Premier League team is close to securing a loan deal for Manchester United second-choice goalkeeper Dean Henderson. The Englishman’s shot-stopping abilities have gained plaudits in the last couple of seasons, however, he failed to displace United’s number one David de Gea.
To further strengthen their squad in three different positions, the Tricky Trees are now targeting Arsenal midfielder Ainsley Maitland-Niles, who is is currently on loan at AS Roma. Forest are also targeting Chelsea defender Levi Colwill, who was loaned out to Huddersfield Town on a season-long loan last July.
According to Sport.UA, Dnipro-1 forward Artem Dovbyk, 25, is also on shortlist. The striker enjoyed a breakthrough 2014-15 season with boyhood club Cherkaskyi Dnipro scoring seven goals in the third division of Ukrainian football league.
Dnipro, impressed with the young striker’s abilities, snapped him up ahead of the 2015-16 Ukrainian Premier League where he scored 18 goals in 35 appearances winning the ‘Best Young Player in the League’ award during his second season.
A Moldovan Cup win was followed by Dovbyk bagging 2 Danish Cups alongside the Danish Superliga title in only two seasons in Denmark followed by a return to the Ukrainian Premier League with Dnipro-1. Since the return, the hitman has netted 24 goals and provided six assists in only 45 domestic appearances as the talent looks ready to perform at bigger stages.
Recently, the footballing world has seen Dovbyk rise to the grand stage as he scored the winning goal in the 2020 UEFA Euro Championship quarterfinal against Sweden and followed it up with a goal against Scotland in the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers playoffs.
Moreover, Forest’s current number nine Keinan Davis has returned to his parent club Aston Villa ahead of the 2022-23 Premier League season. The Tricky Trees are the hot favorites to sign the €5m-rated Ukrainian forward.
