Nottingham Forest
Two things Nottingham Forest accomplished back in 2023 surprised Newcastle to no end.
Newcastle United are very wary of breaching the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules, and have just been given a fresh reminder as to why.
We have already seen Everton receive a Premier League points deduction this season, and now another team could be punished.
Nottingham Forest are the latest club that has been found in breach of profit and sustainability, while Everton are being investigated for a second time.
They could be punished with a points deduction or a fine, at a time when Newcastle are unable to splash the cash. The Magpies have the richest owners in the world, but PSR is restricting their ability to spend.
That is massively frustrating given how desperate Eddie Howe is for reinforcements. He really needs another midfielder, especially following news that Joelinton could be out for the rest of the season.
But the owners are paranoid about overspending and falling foul of financial fair play, which is something Nottingham Forest have done.
They invested huge amounts of money following promotion to the Premier League, and now they could be punished for it.
You could argue their spending paid off, as they managed to survive in their first season back. But some of their investments were questionable, two of which completely stunned Newcastle United.
Newcastle stunned by what Nottingham Forest agreed to
According to the Athletic, people within Newcastle United were amazed that Forest agreed to sign Chris Wood and Jonjo Shelvey last January on the terms that were proposed.
They signed Wood on an initial loan deal, but agreed that the move would become permanent for £15million once he featured in three matchday squads.
Forest also offered Shelvey a two-and-a-half year deal on £75,000-a-week, and that kind of security was enough for the midfielder to wave goodbye to St James’ Park.
Their departures made financial sense for Newcastle, who reportedly could not believe that Forest agreed to those terms.
Chris Wood came back to haunt Newcastle in December
Both deals have come under huge scrutiny from the Forest faithful. The signing of Shelvey was an absolute disaster, as he quickly fell out with Steve Cooper and is now playing in Turkey.
As for Wood, he too has struggled, but he has at least had some impact.
In fact, his best day came on his return to St James’ Park. He netted a Boxing Day hat-trick during a 3-2 win for Forest over the Magpies earlier this season, as Wood came back to haunt his former club.
He looked better than he ever did in black and white, but Newcastle were still right to sell. Getting £15million for Wood was a huge shock, and it meant that claims the Magpies had initially overspent on him in 2022 were irrelevant.
To this day, it is still a shock that Forest agreed to those two deals last January, and now they could be paying the price.
