Nuno Espírito Santo publicly expressed his disappointment about the lack of new signings Nottingham Forest had made and, well, this appears to have had the desired effect.

In the last week, they have signed Omari Hutchinson and James McAtee, both presented to the City Ground crowd before Sunday’s demolition of Brentford, before Arnaud Kalimuendo then also joined on Monday.

Nevertheless, as the Garibaldi Reds prepare for a first European campaign in 30 years, eagerly awaiting next Friday’s Europa League draw, they are far from finished in the transfer market yet, so will two familiar faces soon arrive at the City Ground?

Nottingham Forest's busy transfer activity

Confirmed by the club on Thursday evening, Nottingham Forest have now signed Douglas Luiz from Juventus.

The deal is a season-long loan containing a €30m (around £26m) option to buy, which becomes an obligation should he feature in a certain number of Premier League fixtures.

During his time at Aston Villa, the Brazilian international became one of the best midfielders in the Premier League, but endured a nightmare year at Juventus, accumulating a miserly 877 minutes in a Bianconeri shirt; that’s only 17.6% of their total minutes!

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However, he is not the only player on his way to Nottingham because, according to a report by the Guardian, Forest are ‘working on a deal’ to re-sign Matty Cash from Aston Villa.

The right-back joined the Tricky Trees’ academy as a 17-year-old, making 141 first-team appearances, before being sold to Aston Villa for £14m in 2020, the Villans’ first-choice in that position from the day he arrived until now.

The aforementioned Guardian report notes that, due to PSR concerns, Villa will sell ‘if his valuation is met’, while The Athletic add that the Poland international is now Forest’s primary target, having failed in the pursuit of Rico Lewis from Manchester City.

Thus, could Aston Villa cash in, so to speak, with Matty, potentially, nearing a return to the River Trent?

What Matty Cash would bring to Nottingham Forest

Cash has been a key figure during Aston Villa’s rise in recent seasons, making 181 appearances for the Claret and Blue Army to date, including starting their Premier League opener against Newcastle last weekend.

Manager Unai Emery labelled him “versatile”, adding that he is continuing to improve both going forward and defensively, while Gregg Evans of the Athletic claims that he is ‘one of the Premier League’s best right-backs’, so let’s test that assertion.

Tackles

56

25th

% of dribblers tackled

72.1%

8th

Interceptions

79

50th

Ground duels won

95

26th

Successful dribbles

19

15th

Big chances created

3

31st

Note: all rankings are among defenders only.

As the table outlines, Cash ranked highly for a wide variety of metrics in the Premier League last season, despite seeing only a little over 2,000 minutes, out of a possible 3,420.

The most eye-catching statistic is his percentage of dribblers tackled, with Toti of Wolverhampton Wanderers the only player to attempt 30 or more tackles who boasted a better figure.

So, why would he be such a shrewd addition for Forest?

Well, simply, they need full-back depth. Ola Aina and Neco Williams are the first-choice duo but beyond them, there isn’t much else.

Àlex Moreno provided left-back cover last season, but his loan from, coincidentally, Aston Villa is now over, while Nuno had such a scarcity of options that teenager Zach Abbott, a centre-back by trade, started the FA Cup semi-final against Manchester City at Wembley in April, just his second-ever senior start.

Going forward, as the Tricky Trees attempt to balance both domestic and Europa League commitments, Cash would get plenty of minutes, even if full-back is not an obvious position of weakness.

In midfield meanwhile, Luiz is going to have to work hard to earn his place.

The always impressive Elliot Anderson partnered Ibrahim Sangaré at the weekend, while Forest also have club captain Ryan Yates and Nicolás Domínguez in their squad.

During his final season at Villa, Luiz really flourished when deployed further forward, but that surely isn’t going to happen at the City Ground, considering they kept hold of talisman Morgan Gibbs-White, despite Tottenham triggering his £60m release clause, and have just signed Hutchinson and McAtee for a combined £67.5m.

So, while Luiz is an excellent player, he faces plenty of competition for minutes, while Cash fills a need for greater full-back depth.

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