Nottingham Forest -Baas Nuno Espirito Santo says that his “unbalanced” side has a “big problem” as the Premier League returns, warning that they are “very, very far” from where they should be.
With Forest who is preparing for European League football this season, the club has signed three exceeded players in Dan Ndoye, Igor Jesus and Jair Cunha – while the most important outgoing was the £ 55 million sale of Anthony Elanga to Newcastle.
The club has agreed a deal with a maximum of £ 30 million with Manchester City for James McATEE and is working on three more signing sessions in Ipswich -wing player Omari Hutchinson, Juventus -Midfender Douglas Luiz and Rennes Striker Arnaud Kalimuendo. They are also talking to Callum Hudson-Odoi about a new contract.
Forest, who organizes Brentford Live on Sky Sports on Sunday, has passed a difficult preseason – only scored once in seven competitions, in which Nuno admits that their summer plans have not come through.
Nuno said exclusively for the new season of Sky Sports News' David Craig: “We are very far – very, very far – from where we should be. We are very far in terms of preparation, in terms of planning, in terms of the team.
“So we are all very concerned that we play in two or three days for the Premier League, the most demanding competition in the world. And we are very far. Very far.
“The plans that we had not gone through. The preparation in terms of a team was not ideal. We had no chance to create the band – and this is what I think is more important.
“Because we don't know which team we have. We have players here who know that they will leave on loan. We have a big problem.”
Forest was in the unusual position not to know exactly in which European competition they will play throughout the summer.
Crystal Palace was relegated from the Europa League and pushed Forest up from the Conference League – with the Eagles, which then lost their profession at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
The financial difference between the two competitions is supposed to be around £ 20 million – but Nuno says that Forest should not use their unique situation as an excuse for their lack of summer progress.
“If you play in Europe – Europa League of Conference League – you know that you will have a new challenge for us,” he added. “So nothing has changed in terms of preparation.
“We have lost a very good opportunity to do things better. So now we still have two weeks to go, and after these two weeks we can evaluate how things are.
“But what we lost was the chance to do things better. And that doesn't come back.”
“Let's look at our approach,” Nuno said about how they will tackle Sunday's game. “We have a team that is unbalanced, a team that has no options in many, many positions. So we have a big chance to play the games.”
Elanga 'not easy to replace' – but gibbs -white staying is 'very important'
Nuno also admitted his disappointment to see Elanga transfer to Newcastle. The Swedish wing player received 11 Premier League assists in the past term – only Jacob Murphy and Mohamed Salah succeeded more.
Asked how difficult it will be to replace Elanga, Nuno said: “Very difficult, very difficult – because Anthony's [role] is very specific in the work and in the characteristics he has.
“So it's not easy to replace Anthony. It's not easy.”
However, there was a lot of good news for Bos with the most important midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White who was staying for a new deal.
Tottenham Hotspur introduced £ 60 million for the international English international, which activated his release clause, but then stuck the deal after Forest threatened legal steps against Spurs about an illegal approach, as well as the player of the player on breaking a confidentiality agreement on the Clausule.
Nuno revealed that owner Evangelos Marinakis played a crucial role in convincing Gibbs-White to stay.
“I think many circumstances have happened around Morgan's situation,” said Nuno. “But above all, the credit for the president who has really become personally involved and has resolved the situation.
“He is very important. Morgan is a very important player for us, not only for what he gives us on the field, but he is also one of the captains. He is a leader a nice boy, one who wants and wants to improve his ambitions. And this is contagious.”