Nottingham Forest goalkeeper Matz Sels has revealed he had to make a quick decision over joining the Premier League side.
The Belgium international arrived at the Premier League side from RC Strasbourg in the winter 2024 market and signed a contract until 2027.
Sporza in Belgium had a chat with the 32-year-old, where he talked about how his move to Nottingham Forest took shape.
The Reds were active in January, in order to help them avoid getting relegated from the Premier League. They were successful in the end as Nuno Espírito Santo’s side finished in the 17th spot.
Sels had to rush with his decision as the English club made an approach towards the end of the transfer window.
“Only the night before deadline day I learnt of Nottingham Forest’s interest. But 9 times out of 10, something like that gets no follow-through. Until I heard the morning after that it was very concrete,” he said.
The stopper spent more than five years with Strasbourg before arriving at Nottingham Forest. It wasn’t easy for him to leave the Ligue 1 side, but he still went ahead with the transfer, after discussing with his family.
“After more than five years, I still really liked Strasbourg – so considering leaving was definitely emotional. Only you often run the risk of things going wrong if you stay somewhere for too long,” Sels explained.
“Moreover, my wife Joy was also expecting, by the way. She would have been heavily pregnant in June, so then a transfer would have been a lot less obvious.”
“After consultation, we decided to make the move. It has therefore always been a dream of mine to play in the Premier League.”
On his debut and second half of last season with the Premier League side, he said: “There was a lot of pressure in every match. But I think I played a few very good matches last season and regularly scored points. Fortunately, we were also able to celebrate retention on the last match day.”
The Belgian has continued to be the first choice for the Portuguese coach despite Carlos Miguel’s arrival at Nottingham Forest in the summer.
“Whether I panicked? (shakes head) I am a bit older by now and know that competition is part of football. Everything then depends on what you show on the pitch. In my opinion, that was not a problem with me. So, I just had to keep performing well,” the goalkeeper added.
