Ex-squad planner Syrianos defends Nottingham Forest’s high transfer spend

Forest’s ex-squad planner

George Syrianos, squad planner for newly promoted Nottingham Forest until October, has defended the Tricky Trees’ massive transfer spending. “The Premier League is the strongest league in the world – without a clear investment plan you have no chance of staying in this league,” said the Starnberg native in an interview with the magazine “mirror“.

Nottingham had signed 23 players for 161.95 million euros in the summer and thus spent more than any promoted player in football history before. In addition, only four clubs worldwide invested more. In the table, coach Steve Cooper’s team is still penultimate before Tuesday’s game at Manchester United. The 33-year-old Syrianos had to leave after a poor start to the season.

Syrianos came to Nottingham in 2021, having previously worked for VfB Stuttgart as chief analyst for four years. Among other things, he was involved in the transfers from the Bundesliga of Taiwo Awoniyi (Union Berlin), Orel Mangala (Stuttgart), Moussa Niakhaté (Mainz) and Omar Richards (FC Bayern) to Nottingham. “At Taiwo we were looking for a center forward who has his strengths in switching football with few contacts,” said Syrianos about the 25-year-old, who was brought in for 20.5 million euros and is therefore the second most expensive signing in the club’s history.

Nottingham’s ex-squad planner Syrianos: “We were aware” of the risk of upheaval

In order to survive in the Premier League, the squad was deliberately changed on a large scale after promotion. “It’s just a different level in terms of dynamism, speed of action, athleticism – you don’t have much choice but to turn the squad inside out,” said Syrianos, who also said: “Teams with a high level of personal continuity have greater chances of success – Of course, we were aware of the risk of a major upheaval and had to weigh it up.”

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