Nottingham Forest conceded 67 goals in the Premier League last season, the fifth highest in the division. Although this is one fewer goal than they conceded in 2022/23 (68), it is still one of the worst defensive records in the league.
That Forest have made 28 signings in the last two seasons, making it difficult to establish a starting four (the back five including the goalkeeper), which has caused the Tricky Trees to struggle defensively in recent years.
Forest’s best goalkeeper, Matz Sels, made 16 appearances for the club last season after signing in January, keeping a clean sheet and conceding 27 goals in 1,440 minutes played.
It’s safe to say it’s not as good as that famous Trentside stopper…
How much did Forest sign Brice Samba for
Fan favorite Brice Samba joined Forest in 2019 when he signed for €2.10m (£1.7m) from SM Caen. Samba made just 49 appearances for the French side, conceding 66 goals and keeping 15 clean sheets, making a name for himself and earning a move to English shores.
He made 133 appearances for Forest, keeping 45 clean sheets, conceding 124 goals and playing a total of 11,995 minutes. His best season at Trento came in 2021/22 when he made 45 appearances, kept 16 clean sheets and conceded 39 goals.
Samba made some big saves for Forest to help them into the Championship play-offs and was even dubbed a “hero” after saving a penalty in the shoot-out to beat Sheffield United and progress to the Championship play-off final.
Brice Samba’s form in 2024
Since leaving Forest for just €5.00m (£4m) to join Lens in 2022, Samba has made 84 appearances for the French side, keeping 32 clean sheets, conceding 83 goals and playing a total of 7,590 minutes .
Transfermarkt now values Sambo at €15.00m (£13m), more than three times the value he was sold for just two years ago. Forest have since signed Matz Sels, Matt Turner and Odysseas Vlachodimos, who are looking to replace Samba, and loaned out Dean Henderson, Keylor Navas and Wayne Hennessey.
The 30-year-old striker was so good that he was nominated for the Yashin Trophy in 2023 after finishing second in Ligue 1 with RC Lens, making 37 appearances, conceding 28 goals and keeping 15 clean sheets.
Samba has been nominated among many of the world’s best, including Real Madrid’s Thibaut Courtois, Barcelona’s Marc Andre Ter Stegen and Manchester City’s Ederson.
The metrics show that Samba is significantly better than Selso, facing more shots on goal per 90, keeping more clean sheets, conceding fewer goals and making more saves per 90, averaging 3.07 saves compared to 2.17 saves of the forest keeper at 90.
That he has a 15.9% higher save percentage than Sels shows the difference in their shot-stopping ability, while the former Forest star also averages more passes per 90 and more attempts per 90, but that may be due to his playing on the ball – the dominant side where it gets more touches.
Forest could have saved a lot of time and effort, as well as money, in replacing Samba if they could have stuck with him. Indeed, he quickly established himself as one of the best goalkeepers in the world, earning a call-up to France along the way.