Now the summer window has slammed shut, the Nottingham Forest best XI question finally has a fixed set of answers. Oliver Glasner spent £101million assembling this group and, barring a free agent, this is the squad he will work with until January. With Tottenham Hotspur due at the City Ground on Saturday at 3pm, here is how the Reds’ strongest available side now looks.
Sels keeps the gloves as the Nottingham Forest best XI takes shape
There had been talk of a new No.1 before Monday’s 11pm deadline, with Crystal Palace’s Dean Henderson and Liverpool’s Giorgi Mamardashvili both linked. Neither deal happened, and as the Nottingham Post notes, that leaves Matz Sels as first choice between the posts. The Belgian has his critics, but Steven Benda arrived on a free as cover and John Victor is also on the books.
In front of him, the back three picks itself. Ousmane Diomande was the £34m centrepiece of the window and the club believe he can dovetail with Nikola Milenkovic and Murillo — the trio the Post expects to form Glasner’s main three-man defence. Diomande may need a few weeks to settle into English football, but the ceiling on that combination is high.
Depth is the worry rather than quality. With Morato heading to West Ham United on loan and Zach Abbott joining Southampton, Jair Cunha is the only other natural centre-back left at the City Ground. Ola Aina, Nicolo Savona and even captain Ryan Yates could fill in, but one awkward injury and Glasner is improvising.
Munoz and Williams in the wing-back roles
Glasner’s 3-4-2-1 lives and dies on its wing-backs, which is exactly why Daniel Munoz followed his head coach from Selhurst Park for a reported £22m. The Colombian knows the system inside out, and the Post suggests he could quickly usurp Aina as the preferred pick on the right. That is a serious upgrade in a demanding role.
On the left, Neco Williams remains the incumbent, with Luca Netz pushing him. Williams’ set-piece delivery and willingness to get to the byline make him hard to leave out, and he has been one of the more vocal figures in the dressing room through a difficult start. “The one thing we’ve always had with this team is togetherness,” he said after Saturday’s draw at Anfield. “That togetherness has always stayed with us and it will never go away.”
The midfield question Anderson’s exit left behind
Ibrahim Sangare and Nicolas Dominguez look the likeliest double pivot, with Xaver Schlager — a free transfer from RB Leipzig — pressing hard, and Yates and James McAtee offering different profiles again. It is a functional group rather than a deep one, and it is the area that still feels the loss of Elliot Anderson, sold to Manchester City for a reported £116m. A reported £40m move for Everton’s Harrison Armstrong collapsed late on and two bids for Newcastle United’s Jacob Murphy were rejected, so that gap is now a January problem.
Gibbs-White and Ndoye ahead of them, Delap up top
The two advanced roles are the fun part. Morgan Gibbs-White is Forest’s talisman and the obvious first name in, and he marked his return from a knee problem by scoring in the 2-2 draw at Liverpool. Dan Ndoye, who also scored at Anfield, has the pace and directness to be the second, with Callum Hudson-Odoi, McAtee and Igor Jesus all pushing for the shirt.
And at the tip, Liam Delap. The club-record signing, reported at up to £50m from Chelsea, came off the bench at Anfield and is being built up towards a starting role. Chris Wood’s goalscoring record demands respect and Arnaud Kalimuendo stayed put after a summer of speculation, but Delap is the signing this window was really about.
Our strongest XI (3-4-2-1): Sels; Milenkovic, Murillo, Diomande; Munoz, Sangare, Dominguez, Williams; Ndoye, Gibbs-White; Delap.
That is a side capable of beating Tottenham. Whether it is deep enough to sustain a season is the argument that will run all the way to the New Year — and it starts in earnest with Saturday’s visit of Spurs, with the Reds still hunting a first win of the campaign.
