Nottingham Forest regret as former player is now outperforming Matz Sels as the second best in Europe

Nottingham Forest haven’t had the best of times when it comes to goalkeeper recruitment since returning to the Premier League.

   The Reds have made the first signing of Dean Henderson on a season-long loan from Manchester United.

   He was the man Steve Cooper was looking for in the first place and it looked like he could easily stick around if he performed well.

   Henderson did well in 20 games but then suffered a thigh injury which led to Forest sending Keylor Navas on loan.

   Navas earned £200,000-a-week at PSG and was never going to be a realistic permanent signing – but he did a good job nonetheless.

   Forest kept Henderson’s contract permanent and signed Matt Turner and Odysseas Vlachodimos in the summer of 2023.

   Both players have been poor for Forest and are now gone, with Matz Sels taking over as number one.

   The Nottingham Forest transfer target has now overtaken Matz Sels as the second best in Europe

   If we rewind the entire chain of goaltending dramas, every road leads back to Brice Samba.

   He was the man who helped Forest to promotion but then decided to return to France and sign for Lens in the summer of 2022.

   Since returning to France, he has become one of the best goalkeepers in Europe and a French international.

   Forest wanted Samba in the summer, but there was no agreement between the two sides.

   Now, according to FBRef, the goalkeeper is currently the second best in Europe when comparing the top five European divisions.

   Samba has a save percentage of 87.8%, bettered only by Liverpool stopper Alisson.

   The Lens star has made 32 saves this season, two more than Sels, who is actually 19th in the table when it comes to save percentage.

   Forest fans would welcome Brice Sambo back in an instant

   It’s hard to say convincingly that Forest doesn’t miss Samba.

   The club hasn’t replaced him since he left in 2022, and while Sels is decent enough, the stats show he’s not in Sambo’s bloodline.

   Samba returned to the City Ground for the final game against Crystal Palace and Lewis Grabban posted a cryptic message.

   It came as a bit of a surprise when it was claimed that Forest wanted to re-sign Samba this summer.

   The 30-year-old is a bit younger than Sels and I would have a hard time imagining Lens wanting their main caretaker to leave.

   But that doesn’t mean Forest will stop trying.

   Playing in the Premier League would surely be a dream come true for Samba and if Forest were to achieve anything in January, it would be a transfer that would be hugely popular on Trentside.