Nottingham Forest manager Oliver Glasner stopped owner Evangelos Marinakis from signing more players in the summer window to maintain the balance within the squad, and is ready to change his stance for January.
The Reds had appointed Austrian as their manager in July, after parting ways with Vítor Pereira.
Pereira arrived in February and was key in helping Nottingham Forest avoid relegation and finish 16th last season.
What happened at end of window
In Oliver Glasner’s first window, six new players arrived at the City Ground. The Premier League side invested over €130m on Liam Delap, Ousmane Diomande, Daniel Muñoz and Gustavo Sá. Both Xaver Schlager and Steven Benda were free transfers.
After finishing 16th, the English club missed out on European competition this season. Therefore, the manager didn’t want to have an oversized squad and is open to returning to the market in January.
Glasner revealed this during an interview with Kicker.
He said: “What’s important when looking at the squad as a whole is the strategy, the restructuring: that we didn’t bring in a lot of new players, but only targeted ones, like Xaver Schlager, and given the lack of European cup matches this season, we wanted to compress the whole process.”
“I even turned down the owner’s offer to sign more players. I’d rather wait until January with more lead time.”
| Every Nottingham Forest signing 26/27 | Previous Club | Fee |
|---|---|---|
| Liam Delap | Chelsea | £50m |
| Ousmane Diomande | Sporting CP | £34.3m |
| Daniel Muñoz | Crystal Palace | £22 m |
| Steven Benda | Feyenoord | Free Transfer |
| Xaver Schlager | RB Leipzig | Free Transfer |
| Gustavo Sá | Famalicão | Undisclosed |
Marinakis key for Nottingham Forest move
The 52-year-old made an honest admission that he didn’t consider the City Ground club after leaving Crystal Palace at the end of last season.
Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis was instrumental in convincing him to take the job.
“[Forest] hadn’t honestly been on my radar as a potential new club,” Glasner explained.
“I need to feel that there’s potential, and that everyone is ready to realise that potential. And that’s the case here. During my discussions with the owner, I quickly got butterflies in my stomach, and I knew: I’m passionate about this challenge.”
Oliver Glasner is the 11th manager since the Greek businessman took charge of the English club in 2017.
“Of course, no owner makes an investment on a whim; they have to make many decisions. But we agree on the fundamentals: we both want maximum success for Nottingham Forest,” he added.
“I told the owner that I need him when things get difficult. And that, despite everything he does around the club (…), the most important thing is what happens on the pitch. We are currently working out these priorities.”
Last month, the manager said it wouldn’t be easy start to the season for his side. The Reds have one win from five matches and are now 14th in the table. Nottingham Forest also lost to Leeds United in the second round of the EFL Cup.
