Nottingham Forest are reshaping their squad to prepare for their first season in Europe in almost 30 years. Following their 7th-place finish in the Premier League and Crystal Palace’s demotion to the Europa Conference League, Forest will be one of the two English sides in this year’s Europa League.
The club have made a number of big signings this summer, including Dan Ndoye from Bologna and Igor Jesus and Jair Cunha, both from Botafogo. The trio have arrived for a combined £62.8 million.
Forest are now also pushing for Manchester City youngsters James McAtee and Rico Lewis in the hopes of bolstering their squad depth ahead of a packed fixture list, while talks have also been opened for Douglas Luiz and a deal is nearly complete for Ipswich attacker Omari Hutchinson.
There are only so many spots in the dressing room however, leading to some exits in the coming days and weeks.
Miguel to return to Brazil a year on from Forest move
Reports from Brazil, via Sports Witness, have indicated that Carlos Miguel will soon be on his way back to Brazil and that a deal is “close to the finish line”. Miguel only joined Forest from Corinthians last summer, with Forest spending £3.4 million on the transfer and £15,000 a week in wages on the 6 foot 8 goalkeeper.
This spell in the Brazilian Serie A will be spent at Palmeiras, who currently sit four points behind league leaders Flamengo, who have a game in hand. The Brazilian league runs on a different schedule from the European leagues, with the season starting in March and ending in December.
The Palmeiras manager has reportedly already informed the club’s two current senior goalkeepers that they will be falling down the pecking order once Miguel arrives.
While Miguel’s time in England has been subdued, only having made three appearances, there is already excitement in Brazil about his arrival. Brazilian journalist João Paulo Cappellanes predicted that Miguel will start for Brazil at the 2026 World Cup, referring to him as a “beast” and a “miracle worker”, citing his stature and “huge wingspan”.
Forest's new goalkeeper cup plan
While his appearances for Forest were few and far between, when he did play, it was in the cups. Of the three cup games he featured in, he had to come off injured in one of them, meaning that fans were deprived of seeing him in the penalty shootout against Exeter City.
A potential replacement for Miguel has already signed for the club in Angus Gunn. Gunn arrived on a free from Norwich City and may be the keeper primarily used in rotation with Matz Sels, as the club have also sold Matt Turner.
Gunn has been Norwich’s choice keeper for the last three seasons, so he will face a personal mental test adjusting to not playing week in week out. Last season, Gunn underperformed against his Xg, conceding 5 goals more than he was predicted to. However, he positively stood out in some key stats, as he didn’t have a single error leading to a goal in the league last season, and he was in the top 8% of keepers for pass accuracy.
Overall, Gunn looks like he’ll be a reliable alternative to Miguel and Sels when called upon.
