Nottingham Forest have reportedly sacked recruitment chiefs George Syrianos and Andy Scott following their questionable transfer business in the summer window.
Steve Cooper's side were promoted to the Premier League in May after beating Huddersfield 1-0 in the Championship play-off final at Wembley. That victory ended a 23-year exile from the top flight for a club that won the European Cup in 1979 and 1980.
Forest spent more than £150million on new players in the summer, making them the fourth highest spenders in European football. They invested more in their squad than Barcelona, Tottenham, Bayern Munich, Manchester City, Arsenal and mega-rich Newcastle.
In total, Forest brought in 22 new faces. Transfers included Omar Richards from Bayern Munich, Neco Williams from Liverpool, Orel Mangala from Stuttgart, Emmanuel Dennis from Watford, Taiwo Awoniyi from Union Berlin and Morgan Gibbs-White from Wolves.
They also signed four free transfers - Jesse Lingard, Cheikhou Kouyate. Adnan Kanuric and Serge Aurier - and made the most of the loan market to acquire Dean Henderson from Manchester United, Renan Lodi from Atletico Madrid and Loic Bade from Rennes.
Yet Forest also said goodbye to several members of the squad that won promotion the previous season. The likes of Tobias Figueiredo, Lewis Grabban, Brice Samba and Joe Lolley all said goodbye to the City Ground after their contracts expired.
What do you think about Nottingham Forest's summer transfer business? Let us know in the comments below!
Forest also had to replace four key loan players in Keinan Davis, James Garner, Philip Zinckernagel and Djed Spence when they returned to their respective clubs. It's believed they tried to retain a number of their promotion heroes but failed.
Forest's ambitious transfer activity hasn't worked out for the club, so far at least. They've won just one of their first nine Premier League fixtures this season and many pundits and fans are backing them to make an immediate return to the Championship.
As reported by The Telegraph, Forest have sacked head of recruitment Syrianos and head scout Scott following a review of their transfer business. This review is thought to have been led by owner Evangelos Marinakis and new sporting director Filippo Giraldi.
Cooper was surprisingly handed a new contract earlier this month - despite the team's struggles - and chief executive Dane Murphy is expected to stay. Giraldi is now believed to be analysing their transfer set-up ahead of the upcoming January window.
Cooper has admitted it's hard to manage 22 new players. "It is a really difficult coaching challenge with a new set of players playing in the toughest league in the world," he said after Monday night's 1-1 draw against Aston Villa. "I'm finding out about them on the job."
Some critics have compared Forest's transfer activity to Fulham's ahead of the 2018/19 campaign when they spent more than £100m and finished 19th in the Premier League.
