Nottingham Forest have "gambled" in the transfer market this summer but are giving themselves the "best chance" of it paying off, according to BBC pundit Chris Sutton.
Forest have been very active in the summer transfer window, the Reds bringing a total of 15 new faces into the club so far. It seems that more are to follow with the club linked with striker Neal Maupay and midfielder Houssem Aouar.
Much has been made of the high turnover of players this summer, with Forest’s spending set to go over the £120million mark in the current window. The talk of the transfer activity intensified after an opening day loss against Newcastle United.
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However, some of the new arrivals had a big impact on the Reds picking up their first win of the campaign against West Ham on Sunday. Taiwo Awoniyi scored the only goal of the game, assisted by Jesse Lingard, while goalkeeper Dean Henderson saved a second-half Declan Rice penalty.
Speaking about the transfer activity, Sutton outlined one issue that could become a "huge problem" for Forest should the signings not gel this season.
“I think it’s really fascinating the way that they are going about it, I don’t think there’s any right or wrong way as long as Nottingham Forest stay in the Premier League,” he told BBC Five Live’s Monday Night Club.
“They have huge trust in the manager, Steve Cooper, who did a brilliant job in terms of turning the club around last season. I think with the line-up yesterday (Sunday), looking back to the last game of last season there were three players - McKenna, Worrall and Johnson who were there from last season.
“It’s about them gelling isn’t it? And with recruitment then being the perfect fit, but that’s the way the owner (Evangelos Marinakis) wants to go about it and the supporters can’t accuse him of not being ambitious and giving it a go.
“The issue will come because of the huge wage increase and what have you. If Nottingham Forest go down at the end of the season then it’s going to be a huge problem for them, but they’ve gambled, maybe it will pay off.”
The pundit then highlighted how Cooper will be feeling about the activity in the transfer market, especially after the three points vs the Hammers.
“Bottom line is, if you’re Steve Cooper, you’re absolutely loving this on the basis that they’ve come up, it’s going to be really difficult for them to stay in the Premier League,” he added. You’ve mentioned the possibility of Maupay going and the competition up front but if you’re Steve Cooper, you’re giving yourself the best chance of staying up.
“He’s not going to worry about the amount of signings, it’s about the quality of signings and having a team that is going to be able to compete in the Premier League.
“After the first weekend I was slightly worried about them with the performance at Newcastle. But they got over the line yesterday and that’s such a big boost.”
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