Forest may rue Brentford transfer decision after Premier League charge

20 January 2024 , 06:45

602     0

Brennan Johnson came through the ranks at Nottingham Forest (Image: Getty Images)

Nottingham Forest visit Brentford tonight with a dark cloud lurking above and a question of what might have been in the back of their mind.

At the end of a week in which the Premier League informed the club that they were in breach of their profit and sustainability rules, Nuno Espirito Santo's side face another team battling to stay above the relegation zone - and with the host's star man coming back from an eight-month ban.

But a core part of Forest's argument against being punished for breaching PSR regulations, which are designed to stop clubs from making losses greater than £105m across three years, surrounds their decision to reject a bid from Brentford for Brennan Johnson last summer.

Johnson eventually joined Tottenham on deadline day in a deal worth £47.5m. Except Forest rejected two lesser offers from Brentford earlier in the summer - an initial bid of £30m in June and £35m in July.

They believe that was sensible business practice as it enabled them to maximise their income in the same transfer window - while ensuring a potential relegation rival did not become stronger.

Chelsea complete record-breaking Enzo Fernandez transfer after deadline day rush

But the Premier League’s PSR deadline, or the club’s financial year, was the end of June - meaning that despite the inarguable additional profit of £17.5m, it arrived too late to be included by the league. Forest’s legal argument will be led by the decorated Nick De Marco KC, who has a track record of working in financial fair play cases.

Forest, who signed more than 30 players at the beginning of last season, may also need to sell a couple of other squad members in the current transfer window to ensure they comply with next season’s figures.

And speaking ahead of the Brentford game, Nuno said: "It's very difficult. You have to realise this is a difficult window to operate in because normally the targets you really want are not available.

"This happens at all the clubs; the players who are available are the players who are not in a happy moment where they are. It happens to us also, the speculation of players in our squad going out because they are not happy here or some circumstances happen.

"We have to be really careful. What you want is sometimes not what you get. We have to be ready for everything in the transfer window. Anything can happen."

Alan Smith