How Nottingham Forest’s mighty £110m summer transfer window could have looked - according to Football Manager

It is probably safe to suggest Nottingham Forest’s summer transfer window was never going to match the hectic nature of what played out just 12 months earlier.

Following promotion into the Premier League, Steve Cooper made over 20 new signings as the likes of Morgan Gibbs-White, Neco Williams and Taiwo Awoniyi all moved to the City Ground. After a further seven new faces arrived in January and played a part in helping Forest preserve their top flight status.

However, this summer has been something of a slow burner with the signing of Arsenal goalkeeper Matt Turner meaning there have been just four new arrivals at Forest with just over three weeks remaining in the transfer window.

But how could the summer have played out at the City Ground? We fired up Football Manager 2023 to see how the world’s most popular managerial simulation predicted Forest would fare in the transfer window.

David Pereira Da Costa (Lens) - £29m

A new midfielder was added to Cooper’s ranks when he saw off competition from three other Premier League clubs to complete a move for Lens star Da Costa. Brentford, Brighton and Hove Albion and Aston Villa were all keen on the Portugal Under-21 international - but it was Forest that won the race for his services.

Liel Abada (Celtic) - £25m

The Israel international has impressed on a regular basis since he joined Celtic in a cut-price move in the summer of 2021. Since joining the Hoops, the winger has scored 28 goals and provided 21 assists in 102 appearances in all competitions - but he was tempted away by a big money offer from Forest in this virtual world.

Kyogo Furuhashi (Celtic) - £29m

And Abada wasn’t the only Hoops star to swap life in Glasgow for a move to the City Ground. Japanese star Kyogo was been widely tipped to follow former manager Ange Postecoglou this summer after he took up an offer to take charge at Tottenham Hotspur - but the forward will only be reunited with the Australian when Forest meet Spurs in this virtual Premier League.

Lucas Moura (free agent)

He may well have returned to Brazil with Sao Paolo in the real world - but the virtual Lucas Moura will be wearing the colours of Forest after he shunned offers from the MLS, Premier League, La Liga and Saudi Pro League to join Cooper’s attacking ranks at the City Ground.

Harry Souttar (Leicester City) - £8.5m

An interesting move to say the least! A desire to strengthen his defensive ranks saw Cooper hand over £8.5m to take Leicester City centre-back Harry Souttar to Forest. This would have provoked much debate but it seems the Australia international was one of the Forest manager’s main target.

Charlie Taylor (Burnley) - £7.25m

There’s a new left-back in town as Charlie Taylor joined Forest from Premier League newcomers Burnley. That will help Steve Cooper make up for the lost of Renan Lodi after his loan spell at the City Ground ended and he returned to La Liga gaints Atletico Madrid.

Marcus Bettinelli (Chelsea) - £1.1m

Often Chelsea’s third-choice goalkeeper, Bettinelli was handed the opportunity to earn regular game-time in the Premier League when Forest made a successful bid for his services. There was plenty of competition for the former Fulham stopper but it all came from the Championship and Forest’s Premier League status seems to have swung it in their favour.

Abel Ruiz (Braga) - £11m

Just about the only position that was left to be strengthened was a striker and Cooper rectified that on the final day of the summer transfer window. Former Barcelona B forward Ruiz was persuaded to swap a comfortable stint with Portuguese club Braga for a move to the City Ground after the two clubs agreed an £11million fee.