Nottingham Forest complete triple raid on Portuguese market – What happened the last time when they did it
There has been no shortage of excitement in the 2019 summer transfer window and the football fans in England currently seem to be in the grip of the transfer fever at the moment, with the excitement levels rocketing sky-high as the deadline day in August draws closer.
The Premier League clubs have already made the headlines with some big-money deals for emerging European stars but the Championship promotion-hopefuls are not far behind either.
Shifting our focus to the EFL Championship, Nottingham Forest are one of the first names that come to our mind when we talk about bringing in high-profile players from other European leagues.
It’s quite clear that there is no shortage of cash at the City Ground and the two-time European Cup winners, indeed, have the reputation and the pulling power to attract quality young talents from across the continent.
The two-time European champions got their business underway this summer by sacking O’Neill and appointing former Rennes manager Sabri Lamouchi at the helm of affairs.
Forest have already made the headlines with yet another triple raid on the Portuguese market. Over the past few seasons, Forest have shown an inclination to bring in some burgeoning young talents from the Portuguese top-flight.
Apart from the signing of Joao Carvalho from Benfica last summer, Forest brought in the likes of Tobias Figueiredo, Diogo Goncalves, and Gil Dias.
Neither of the signings particularly lived up to the expectations last season, however, the fans at the City Ground have every reason to be optimistic about the club’s new acquisitions this time around.
It is true that Forest’s triple raid on the Portuguese market last summer didn’t produce the desired outcome but the likes of Tiago Silva, Yuri Ribeiro, and Alfa Semedo can be looked at as intelligent additions to the squad, particularly due to the fact that neither of them has come through the door at the City Ground for a big sum of money.
As opposed to last summer when Forest splashed out a record £13.5million on Joao Carvalho, the club’s approach to the transfer scheme of things hasn’t really been the same this time around.
They have brought in some talented youngsters but the investors have been cautious not to spend over the limits, thus eliminating the risk factor of bringing in relatively unproven players to a considerable extent.
Central midfielder Silva and left-back Ribeiro have joined on permanently deals from Feirense and Benfica respectively, while Semedo has linked up with Lamouchi’s squad on a season-long loan deal from Benfica.
All the three aforementioned players were relatively unknown commodities in Portuguese football last season but they apparently did enough to convince Forest’s scouting base.
A brief overview of the trio and what they could possibly add to Forest’s ranks
Tiago Silva
Tiago Silva, 26, comes in as the most experienced of the trio, having successfully plied his trade for Feirense in the Portuguese top-flight over the past three seasons.
The versatile midfielder contributed with 3 goals and 5 assists in 29 appearances in the Primeira Liga the last term for Fereinse, who finished rock-bottom in the table and suffered relegation to the second tier.
Silva started his career with Belenenses in the second-tier and was a part of the club’s incredible rise in Portugal, with the midfielder being one of the driving forces behind their promotion to the Primeira Liga and eventual qualification to the Europa League.
The 26-year-old, who represented his nation at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, switched boats to join Feirense on loan in 2016 and plied his trade there for a couple of seasons before making his stay permanent.
Silva racked up 14 goals and 17 assists in 97 appearances for Feirense in all competitions before the club eventually got relegated to the second tier last season.
A technically-gifted central midfielder who is also noted for his versatility, Silva is adept at switching between various positions in the middle of the park.
The 26-year-old is more than capable of sticking his foot out to break up the play but it is his creativity, set-piece ability and devastating eye for key passes in the final third that should interest the fans at the City Ground.
One of the marked drawbacks from Forest’s campaign in the Championship last season was their lack of creativity in the midfield and Silva has probably been brought in to add more depth and quality in that particular area of the pitch given his ability to play in No.10 and box-to-box roles.
However, Lamouci should be aware of the fact that he picked up as many as 32 yellow cards at Feirense over the past three seasons, meaning he isn’t the most disciplined in the middle when it comes to making challenges.
Alfa Semedo
The 21-year-old might not have represented Portugal at the youth levels but he rose to prominence with Moreirense in the Primeira Liga in the 2017-18 campaign before making a return to his boyhood club Benfica last summer.
Upon his return, Semedo scored for Benfica in the group stages of the UEFA Champions League last season, though just 5 substitute appearances for the heavyweights in the league campaign saw him get loaned out to La Liga outfit Espanyol in January.
Essentially a central defensive midfielder by trade, the Guinea-born enforcer is also capable of slotting in at the heart of the defence.
Nottingham Forest relied heavily on Newcastle loanee Jack Colback last season but given that a permanent deal for the veteran is yet to be finalised, the acquisition of Semedo would offer Lamouci some valuable cover in the defensive midfield region.
Forest have the likes of Claudio Yacob, Ben Watson and Adlene Guedioura as options in the middle, although they are all on the wrong side of 30 and Semedo’s youthful exuberance might as well add a bit more dynamism to Lamouchi’s options.
Yuri Ribeiro
A Portuguese U-21 international, the 22-year-old left-back made his senior debut for Benfica in the 2016-17 season, although it was during the loan stint at Rio Ave in the 2017-18 campaign that he rose to prominence with some impressive displays.
Ribeiro featured in Benfica’s Europa League campaign last season but he never played a part in the club’s triumphant Primeira Liga season.
Ribeiro has real quality on the ball and he is more than capable of driving forward and chipping in with valuable goals and assists, meaning that Forest are probably looking at him to provide competition for the likes of Jack Robinson and Ben Osborn down the left-hand side of the pitch.
What happened last time around?
Club-record signing Joao Carvalho finished the 2018-19 campaign with 4 goals and 8 assists in 38 Championship outings, returns which aren’t eye-watering considering all the effort that Forest had put in to bring him to the City Ground.
However, he continues to be a highly-rated creative player at 22 and the fans will be expecting him to make a bigger contribution under Lamouchi’s attacking philosophy next term.
Tobias Figueiredo featured sporadically under Karanka and O’Neill, and managed only 11 starts in the Championship last season, whilst Gil Dias drew a complete blank in terms of goals and assists in his 21 league outings before terminating his loan deal in January.
Diogo Goncalves, on the other hand, failed to mount a challenge for a first-team place and started only once in the Championship all season.
Conclusion
Barring Joao Carvalho, Forest’s triple-raid on the Portuguese market last summer failed to pay the dividends and the fans might just be a bit skeptical about the likes of Silva, Semedo, and Ribeiro coming to the City Ground this time around.
However, new arrivals bring with them new hopes and so there is every reason for the fans to be optimistic about the club’s new acquisitions.
Whether or not they will be able to cope with the demands of playing in an unforgiving league such as the Championship is something that only time will reveal.
Even if they don’t live up to the expectations, the disappointment will be considerably lesser given that not a lot has been spent on these players.
