Recruitment chief Georgios Syrianos has outlined Nottingham Forest’s change in transfer policy since their summer revamp.
Last year’s off-season saw changes behind the scenes at the City Ground, with Dane Murphy appointed as chief executive and a new-look recruitment set-up put in place.
Syrianos arrived as part of that, having been head of analytics at Bundesliga side Vfb Stuttgart.
Subsequently, there was a focus on lowering the average age of the Reds squad and generally targeting players with a younger age profile, as well as ensuring the club is on a solid economic footing as they push for a place in the Premier League.
“The club wanted to improve the recruitment area in the long term and develop a strategic reorientation - to give young players with potential a platform to achieve sporting success on an economically sound basis,” Syrianos told German sports magazine Kicker.
“At the same time, Forest wanted to take a more analytical and process-oriented path - a path that has previously taken Brentford, Brighton and also Leeds to the Premier League.
“In the medium term, our major goal is to get Nottingham Forest promoted to the Premier League. But that's not just what we want, every club in the Championship wants that.
“Many clubs are in the red, sometimes acting very uneconomically because everything is subordinated to promotion.
“I believe that this is often due to strategic decisions - it is important to reconcile the balance and proportionality of short-term to long-term decisions.
“Sporting success is only sustainable on a healthy economic basis - this must also be reflected in the strategy for squad planning.
“I wanted to play a key role in developing the club's strategy at a traditional club like Forest.
“The immediate results in the previous season played less of a role, especially since Forest finished seventh the year before.
“At the moment we all want to realign Nottingham and see ourselves on the right path in the medium term to deliver sporting results that do justice to this club and the investment made by the Marinakis family.
“The league is incredibly challenging from a sporting point of view because all teams have their sights set on the long-awaited promotion to the Premier League.”
Head coach Steve Cooper has previously explained transfer decisions are made on a collective basis, with Syrianos outlining the process.
“At Forest, the tasks are spread over several shoulders,” he said. Kyriakos Dourekas (director of football) is a very experienced director of professional sport.
"In my area we have a strong focus on the squad in coordination with managing director Dane Murphy who oversees all departments and processes.
“All transfer decisions are made and accounted for together. But in all processes, the balancing act between short-term success and a financially sound basis remains the most challenging task for us.”
