Nottingham Forest are hoping to trim their bloated squad in January while also scouring the market for new players.
It is a difficult balance for new boss Nuno Espirito Santo, who has made an impressive start to life at the City Ground having replaced the sacked Steve Cooper, enjoying wins over Newcastle and Manchester United in their last two outings.
Read our other football news stories here:
Sheffield United complete Brereton Diaz loan deal
Pochettino happy with Chelsea squad, coy on Gallagher talk
Pochettino sees domestic cups as route into Europe for Chelsea
Arteta open to January business at Arsenal
He needs to get rid of some of the deadwood but also bring in players he believes can help Forest move away from the lower reaches of the Premier League table.
Speaking ahead of Sunday’s FA Cup third-round meeting with Blackpool, he said: “There has been a lot of work since we arrived. It’s true we want to reduce our squad size but we want to improve the squad depth. That is our job.
“We have to be ready. What is important are those that are here. If someone comes [into the team] it is to help improve the quality and it is not easy to improve quality.”
Forest are the hardest hit of the Premier League clubs that are losing players to the African Cup of Nations with six players jetting out to the Ivory Coast to represent their countries – Serge Aurier, Ibrahim Sangare, Willy Boly, Ola Aina, Moussa Niakhate and Cheikhou Kouyate.
Preparing for FA Cup action ????
— Nottingham Forest (@NFFC) January 5, 2024
Nuno admits it’s not ideal but says it’s on him to find a solution.
He added: “We knew that this was going to happen. We tried to prepare and anticipate. Now it is time to come up with solutions and we have to cope with that.
“It is going to be a while depending on how far the national teams go. We will always find a solution, to find a strong starting XI and continue.”
