Nottingham Forest have endured a tough second season in the Premier League, with their future in the division very much in the balance amid what it is a nail-biting battle for survival.
The Reds would be much closer to safety had they not received a four-point deduction for breaking the Premier League’s PSR rules, after overspending by £34m for the previous financial year.
Forest sold attacker Brennan Johnson for £47.5m to Tottenham Hotspur on deadline day last summer, but was past the cut-off point for the deadline, with the club using the deal as a mitigating factor in the battle.
The club could’ve easily avoided the financial issues had they conducted smarter business in the transfer window, with owner Evangelos Marinakis splashing over £200m on new players since promotion in 2022.
Big-money signings such as Ibrahim Sangare and Emmanuel Dennis both arrived at the City Ground for fees upwards of £20m, but have failed to provide any value for money – with the latter leaving Forest to rejoin Watford, the club they signed him from, for the second half of the 2023/24 season.
Another player has arrived at the club since promotion, but like the aforementioned pair, he’s yet to make any impact – not even featuring once under either Steve Cooper or Nuno EspÃrito Santo.
Omar Richards’ stats at Nottingham Forest
Upon his £8.5m arrival from Bayern Munich during the summer of 2022, Omar Richards brought hope amongst the fanbase that he could end the club’s long-standing issue at left-back.
However, he would have to wait to make his Reds debut after the club doctor picked up a small fracture in his leg after completing his medical.
Cooper, the Forest boss at the time, confirmed the club were “getting to the bottom” of the issue, but it would turn out to be far more severe than anyone expected.
Richards was subsequently left out of the Reds’ 25-man Premier League squad and would fail to feature throughout the entire 2022/23 season in what was undoubtedly a frustrating year for the former Reading man.
He would join Olympiacos on loan for the 2023/24 campaign, but although he’s maintained his fitness, he’s failed to nail down a starting position, featuring on just 11 occasions – putting his Forest career in real doubt.
Omar Richards’ market value in 2024
Less than two years on from his move to the City Ground, the 26-year-old has seen his market value plummet to just £2.1m, as per Transfermarkt, a figure that is less than fellow forgotten Forest man Jonjo Shelvey, who’s valued at £2.4m, even despite being six years older.
Omar Richards’ value since June 2022 |
||
---|---|---|
Date |
Value |
Club |
June 2022 |
£6m |
Bayern Munich |
November 2022 |
£6m |
Nottingham Forest |
June 2023 |
£4.3m |
Nottingham Forest |
December 2023 |
£3.4m |
Olympiacos |
March 2024 |
£2.1m |
Olympiacos |
Stats via Transfermarkt |
Although injuries have hampered his time at Forest, the club need to try their best to move the former Bayern defender on in the summer as they try to avoid further PSR punishments next season.
He’s clearly a talented player, as demonstrated by his tally of 17 appearances for Bundesliga outfit previously, but unfortunately, given the Reds’ financial situation, they simply can’t be carrying players who are known to be injury-prone – regardless of their talent.
Richards still has two years remaining on his deal in the East Midlands, with Nuno and Marinakis needing to try and recoup as much of the £8.5m transfer fee as possible.
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