Gary Neville has said that it is ‘inevitable’ that Nottingham Forest are one of the most active teams in the transfer window this summer after earning promotion back to the Premier League.
The Reds have been busy in the window so far, adding 12 new faces to their squad as Steve Cooper continues to look to add reinforcements before the end of the window on September 1. The number of new players signed has led to some criticism from certain areas, with some likening the activity to that of Fulham when they were last in the Premier League.
The Cottagers spent around £100m on new recruits ahead of the 2020/21 campaign, only to finish in 18th position. Under the stewardship of Marco Silva, the club returned to the Premier League at the first time of asking last season.
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Neville has, however, jumped to the defence of Cooper and Fulham, saying that the squad that Forest had at the start of the summer gave the Reds ‘no choice’ but to add a number of players as they aim to stay in the division.
“You’ve got no choice,” he told Football Daily . “Fulham and Bournemouth, parachute clubs, (got) £40 odd million last year, Forest £6 million. So Forest end up with a team that is truly Championship that has overperformed and the coach has overperformed.
“You’ve got no choice then to invest and bring in a whole new half a squad, you’ve got no choice. Any club coming up has got to do that.
“The reason Fulham and Bournemouth don’t have to do it is that they’ve gone down with the Premier League team and they come back up with a Premier League team. The parachute to be fair, enables them to do so.
“It’s not a case of is it a bad thing or a good thing, it’s an inevitable thing.”
Forest are keen to add further to their squad with just three weeks of the window remaining. Midfield, left-back and striker are three of the positions that are said to have been identified by Cooper before the end of the window.
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