Nottingham Forest are slowly starting to look like they are on track to becoming an established Premier League side.
Steve Cooper has guided his side to two wins out of four including a shock result against top-flight giants Chelsea. He was also pipped to points by Champions League qualifiers Manchester United and Arsenal, so there are no early signs that Forest should worry about.
Last season, the league's newcomers picked up just six points in their first 11 games – during the 2022/23 season, the Tricky Trees splashed out £145m as they were scrambling for Premier League quality players.
Looking back on the 21 players that came to the City Ground only a few looked to have been successful.
The Reds finished their first season back at the top in 23 years with just 38 goals to their name showing they obviously needed reinforcements to create chances for goals.
Forest fans may wonder how their Premier League campaign would have finished if they still had Matty Cash a part of their cavalry.
The now-Poland international is smashing it at Aston Villa and is a force to be reckoned with in both halves of the pitch.
How much did Forest sell Cash for?
Much like Forest in their first season back in the Premier League, Villa was also close to going down however their margins were much thinner escaping by one point.
Then manager Dean Smith knew the Birmingham outfit needed some serious reinforcements if they were to avoid getting dragged into a relegation fight the following season.
Ollie Watkins, Bertrand Traoré and Emiliano Martinez were all brought to Villa Park as marquee signings.
Ex-Forest manager Sabri Lamouchi sold Cash in a deal worth an initial £14m rising to £16m if clauses and bonuses were met making him one of the four permanent additions to the Midlands club in the Summer
Who else was interested in Cash?
The 6 foot 1 full-back has been on the radar for a few European clubs prior to his arrival at Villa Park.
In the 2016/17 season, recently promoted RB Leipzig were the new boys on the block looking to topple Bayern Munich’s dominance in the Bundesliga. The youth-focused transfer strategy has already seen some of the world’s most promising players join the East German club.
The then 19-year-old Cash had the chance to join former Forest teammate Oliver Burke, along with Naby Keita, Dayot Upamecano and Timo Werner at the Red Bull Arena, however, the two-time European champions rejected the £6m offer.
Three years later it was Italian giants AC Milan who were chasing after the right-back, but Forest pulled the plug after realising his sale may hinder their chance of promotion.
The man who was dubbed a future “super player” by former manager Dean Smith later joined Villa just six months later, trading the fashion capital of the world for the Birmingham Bullring.
After signing for Villa, Cash said:
"My agent rang me and said that Villa were interested, and immediately it was the place I wanted to come to.
"I said, Don’t even worry about anywhere else, I want to come here and play.
"It’s such a big football club, from the fanbase to the stadium. Every time I played at Villa Park before it just sold itself to me."
How has Cash performed for Villa?
Once described as a “threat” when going forward by the former Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa manager Alex McLeish, Cash has showcased his attacking capabilities in the claret and blue shirt.
The 2021/22 season saw the 6 foot 1 defender score four and assist three goals in the Premier League.
During the same campaign, Cash created 28 chances throughout Villa’s Premier League campaign and ranked joint second for interceptions per 90 (1.3) according to FotMob.
The Polish right-back’s performances didn't go unnoticed by the Villa faithful as he was known as the standout performer picking up the 2021/22 Supporters’ Player of the Season.
Successful tackles per 90
1.3
1.6
Tackle success %
56.2%
58.2%
Interceptions per 90
1.3
1.3
Cash may be more familiar for his attacking ability as a right-back but that’s not to say he hasn't improved defensively as well.
The Aston Villa defender improved his successful tackles per 90 and his success rate last Premier League campaign compared to the season prior showing he’s made strides improving all parts of his game.
So far in 2023/24, Cash has found the back of the net two times making him the Villans’ joint-top scorer.
Is Cash the biggest blunder for Forest in recent times?
The Tricky Trees’ academy system has flown under the radar in the past with the spotlight often being the talent other clubs are producing.
In fact, Nottingham Forest has produced two players in the form of Joe Worrall and Ryan Yates who are regular starters for the Premier League club.
Very few in the division can say they have academy graduates who get consistent minutes.
Nevertheless, Forest is still prone to making a few blunders, especially under Lamouchi as evident above, and has let go of a couple of ex-academy players who could have made a bigger impact at the City Ground
Cash is now worth around £32m according to FootballTransfers which may hurt Forest fans and even more owner Evangelos Marinakis.
It’s not just the £80k-per-week defender who could have sold for a pretty penny or made a bigger impact at the City Ground.
Brennan Johnson is the latest academy graduate to leave Forest for a large cash sum.
The Welsh international switched to Tottenham Hotspur’s in a deal worth £47.5m which is over market value.
Only time will tell who got the better deal but the Reds will be without the player who got their second-most goal contributions (11) last season and at 22 will likely flourish under Ange Postecoglou.
Patrick Bamford is another notable player who may have departed the City Ground at the wrong time.
The one-capped England international was snapped up by Chelsea as a teenager for just £1.5m in 2012. The now Leeds talisman was previously worth £23m and has gone to be a fairly decent player.
With 51 goals in 151 matches for Leeds, including 17 in the Premier League 2020/21 season, Bamford is a player Forest could have done with.
Name
Club
Sold for
Highest Transfer Value
Matty Cash
Aston Villa
£16m
£40m
Brennan Johnson
Tottenham Hotspur
£47.5m
£39m
Anel Ahmedhodžić
Sheffield United
N/A
£12m
Patrick Bamford
Leeds United
£1.5m
£23m
Jamaal Lascelles
Newcastle United
£3.5m*
£15.4m
£7m* – joint fee for both Lascelles and Karl Darlow
The Reds may rue the decision to part ways with Cash due to his performances on the pitch for Aston Villa and that his value has sky-rocketed, and this could be argued about a fee former academy stars as mentioned.
Cooper and the Forest recruitment staff will move past the decision and will try to learn from their mistakes.
There are some very exciting prospects coming through Wilford Lane including Aaron Donnelly, Fin Back and Zach Abbot all waiting for their chance to impress the Forest faithful under the lights of the City Ground.