With this loss, Nottingham Forest has dropped into the Premier League relegation zone.
If Nottingham Forest doesn’t auction off one of their best players early in the summer transfer window, they could lose even more points the following season. This puts the Tricky Trees in danger as elite Premier League clubs might start buzzing around players like Anthony Elanga and Morgan Gibbs-White.
After being promoted to the top division in 2022, Forest went on an extravagant transfer binge right away. Over the next three windows, a staggering forty-three new players were welcomed to the City Ground, at tremendous financial cost to the club’s owners.
That backfired on Monday when they were punished four points for violating the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR). With nine games left in the season, Nuno Espirito Santo’s team consequently fell into the relegation zone.
The independent commission’s decision revealed that, unless Forest raises approximately £30 million in profit through player sales before June 30, 2024—just over two weeks after the window opens—they will have again violated PSR for the three-year period that ends on that date.
Among Espirito Santo’s most valued players are Gibbs-White, Elanga, and Ibrahim Sangare; given their weak negotiating stance, Forest might have to cash them in below market value.
PSR for the month of June 30, 2023, was broken by Forest when they delayed selling Brennan Johnson to Tottenham for £47.5 million. The club stated that it would be unrealistic to expect them to sell the 22-year-old for a much cheaper price earlier in the summer and cited the transfer as a mitigating circumstance for their breach.