Nottingham Forest 2026-27 preview: Europe and trophies are the ultimate goal under Glasner
Another season in the Premier League, another new manager.
Nottingham Forest will kick off their fifth consecutive campaign of top-flight football when Leeds United visit on Saturday.
Following another summer of change, what is the mood like at the City Ground?
What are the expectations inside the club?
Oliver Glasner has been appointed to take Forest to the next level. The ultimate ambition is to return to the European stage and challenge in cup competitions.
There is a feeling at Forest that the squad underachieved as they fought for Premier League survival last season.
Delivering European qualification or silverware immediately is unrealistic, but after reaching the Europa League semi-finals last season, Glasner and Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis are keen to ensure it was not a one-off.
Who have they signed?
Forest bolstered their midfield options with Xaver Schlager, signed as a free agent after leaving RB Leipzig. They also invested £35million ($46m) to sign 22-year-old defender Ousmane Diomande from Sporting CP.
They are viewed as significant additions. Schlager knows Glasner’s approach inside out, from their time working together at Wolfsburg. Diomande is seen as the final piece of the jigsaw in the centre of defence, where the club feel he can form a formidable trio with Murillo and Nikola Milenkovic.
What is their transfer priority before the window closes?
Glasner still wants, a wing-back and a striker and possibly a midfielder, although that is less of a priority.
Adding another striker feels particularly significant. Chris Wood’s minor injury struggles in pre-season and long-serving Taiwo Awoniyi’s departure to Coventry in a £9million move have both underlined why the club are still pursuing another striker. Glasner wants a player with a strong physical presence and the pace to stretch opposition defences. Jean-Philippe Mateta, who filled that role under him at Crystal Palace, is not a target. Liam Delap, the Chelsea forward, is on Forest’s list.
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What else is new?
There are different roles for George Syrianos, Pedro Ferreira and Andy Reid within the Forest hierarchy, as the club has undergone a restructuring behind the scenes.
Syrianos, previously the global technical director, becomes chief football officer at the City Ground, taking on the role vacated when Ross Wilson departed to join Newcastle last summer. Ferreira, previously the club’s head of recruitment, will be the technical director.
The void left when Craig Mulholland joined the Scottish Football Association as chief football officer at the end of last season will partially be filled by the popular figure of Reid. The former Forest winger has moved into the head of football development role for the men’s and women’s academy teams. He will work closely with head of academy Chris McGuane, newly appointed B team head coach Dylan Malicheff and head of women’s football Amber Wildgust.
Following the departure of Geoff Scott, who was appointed on a consultancy basis in February, Dimitrios Kalogiannidis, who was at Chelsea for over a decade, is Forest’s new head of medical.
Who has been the best player in pre-season?
A tough call. Igor Jesus has been in fine form, having scored in every friendly he has played, aside from the defeat to Barcelona. That included four goals in Forest’s first five friendlies and making a strong claim for either one of the two No10 roles in Glasner’s preferred 3-4-2-1 formation or as the man leading the line. The Brazilian was a key figure in Europe and will be hoping to match that impact domestically.
Igor Jesus celebrates his opener in Nottingham Forest’s 4-1 defeat against Sporting CP in Faro last month (Carlos Rodrigues/Getty Images)
The other attacking midfielder will almost certainly be Morgan Gibbs-White, who has looked like a man with a point to prove after he was left out of England’s World Cup squad.
Gibbs-White was arguably the best player in his position in the Premier League last season and Forest will hope he can repeat that form under Glasner, who has a track record of taking talented players and making them even better.
What are they worried about?
Replacing Anderson. The England midfielder was one of Forest’s best players for generations.
There was at least one bid rejected for Tottenham Hotspur’s Sweden international Lucas Bergvall in July but Forest still have quality in the centre of the pitch. Ibrahim Sangare has evolved into the dominant figure the club hoped he would be when they signed him from PSV in 2023, Nico Dominguez is a versatile talent, Glasner trusts Schlager, and we should never write off Ryan Yates.
But it is former Manchester City man James McAtee who Glasner — and senior figures at Forest — hope can fill the Anderson void. McAtee has played in a deeper role all summer and is likely to start there again on Saturday.
How is the manager feeling?
Glasner was in a hugely positive mood when he spoke at length in Portugal about his ambitions.
The 51-year-old believes he is inheriting a squad with more to give. Glasner wanted to leave Palace in search of a fresh challenge — he will definitely find that in Nottingham.
What is the percentage chance of Glasner seeing out the season?
Landing Glasner feels like a serious coup for Forest. His stock was high at Palace after adding a Conference League trophy to the FA Cup and Community Shield he helped win.
A change in manager is nothing new at Forest — they worked their way through four head coaches last season — but the chaos was more nuanced than some might recognise. Nuno Espirito Santo talked himself out of the job, Ange Postecoglou was a mistake from day one and Sean Dyche lost the dressing room. Vitor Pereira was unlucky after doing a fine job of keeping Forest up. But it is possible to feel sympathy for him and still recognise that Glasner is a step up.
Marinakis does not sack managers on a whim. It would require a complete disaster for Forest to part company with a coach they went to great lengths to appoint. At Forest, nothing is certain, but there has to be at least a 90 per cent chance that Glasner will still be in charge in May.
I wouldn’t be surprised if…
McAtee thrives under Glasner.
No player suffered more amid the chop and change last season, with none of the head coaches finding a way to maximise the versatile midfielder’s talents, despite their varied tactical approaches.
James McAtee battles for possession against Bayer Leverkusen last week (Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
Glasner’s football ethos helped Mateta, Eberechi Eze and Ismaila Sarr make the very most of their ability at Selhurst Park.
Maybe he can work a similar brand of magic with McAtee, who Forest believed was capable of big things when he signed from Manchester City for £30million a year ago.
What is their strongest XI?
(3-4-2-1) Matz Sels; Ousmane Diomande, Nikola Milenkovic, Murillo; Ola Aina, James McAtee, Ibrahim Sangare, Neco Williams; Igor Jesus, Morgan Gibbs-White; Chris Wood.