While Nottingham Forest’s transfer business didn’t stop last summer, there was probably one deal they wish hadn’t gone through.
That is Brice Samba’s move to Lens, with the goalkeeper joining the French side in a €5m deal at the beginning of July.
That brought an end to a three-year stay with Nottingham Forest, who he had initially joined in a €2.1m deal from SM Caen in August 2019.
He went on to establish himself as a key player at Nottingham Forest after that, making 133 appearances in all competitions for the club and enjoying a record of 124 goals conceded and 45 clean sheets.
He was one of the star men in their promotion last season too, with a series of impressive performances earning him recognition.
He’s continued on that path since departing and has now earned himself a call up to the senior France side for the coming international break.
That’s something they’re delighted with at Lens, where the club’s general manager has admitted they knew they were getting a star after watching him at Forest.
“It moved a lot around him, the players were very happy for him, he let himself be carried by the wave,” he told L’Equipe.
“We just shook hands. When he signed, we knew the goalkeeper who told us that maybe at some point he would have the potential to be in the France team one day.
“In the Championship, he had shown quite exceptional things. He is mature today. He took with the club a higher dimension. I had no doubts that he was in the top three current French goalkeepers.
“It’s well deserved compared to everything he gives and everything he releases and all his performances.”
