As Nottingham Forest prepare for a first European campaign since 1995/96, will they make any more signings before the transfer window slams shut on 1 September?
So far, Brazilian duo Igor Jesus and Jair Cunha have arrived from Botafogo, Angus Gunn will be the new back-up goalkeeper and Dan Ndoye has joined from Bologna, the winger costing a reported fee of £35m.
However, having sold Anthony Elanga to Newcastle for £55m, Nuno Espírito Santo will still want to add attacking talent to his squad this month, so do the Garibaldi Reds lead the chase to sign a highly-rated young talent?
Nottingham Forest's pursuit of a new winger
As Forest search for a new wide-attacker, it was reported by David Ornstein of The Athletic earlier this week that they’d had a £35m bid rejected by Ipswich Town for Omari Hutchinson.
Transfer Focus
Mega money deals, controversial moves and big-name flops. This is the home of transfer news and opinion across Football FanCast.
The England under-21 international only made his move to Portman Road permanent from Chelsea 12 months ago, costing a reported £22m, so the Tractor Boys are demanding a higher fee.
With Brentford also interested, seeking a replacement for Bryan Mbeumo, journalist Graeme Bailey believes that a possible transfer tug-of-war could see Hutchinson move for in excess of £40m.
Thus, as Forest turn their attention to other targets, Football Insider’s Keith Wyness reports that they are in a ‘stronger position’ to sign James McAtee from Manchester City, valued at around £30m by the Sky Blues.
The report notes that a £25m bid was rejected earlier this summer, although Wyness believes a higher offer should see the deal finalised, with Pep Guardiola keen to move him on this summer.
Jordan Campbell of The Athletic notes that it is ‘expected’ that McAtee will be on the move this summer following a lack of first-team opportunities at the Etihad, so could he soon swap Man City for the City Ground?
What James McAtee would bring to Nottingham Forest
McAtee joined Manchester City at the age of 11, making his senior debut against Wycombe Wanderers in an EFL Cup tie four years ago.
He first truly caught the eye during a two-season loan spell at Sheffield United, making 75 appearances for the Blades, including 30 in the Premier League, scoring 14 goals and registering eight assists.
Jacek Kulig of Football Talent Scout was certainly impressed, labelling him a “top talent”, adding that he is a “highly technical… advanced playmaker”, who possesses “electric pace” and “exceptional” creativity.
He then returned to Man City for the 2024/25 campaign, with manager Pep Guardiola noting that the youngster is “intelligent”, but used him very infrequently, with the table below documenting his frustrating year.
Appearances
27
Minutes
936
Starts
9
Goals
7
Apps 15 mins or fewer
10
PL starts
3
UCL starts
Zero
Times unused substitute
25
As the table outlines, despite scoring seven goals in all competitions, including bagging an FA Cup hat-trick against Salford City, McAtee started just nine times all year, allowed to represent England at the under-21 Euros in Slovakia earlier this summer, rather than being involved at the Club World Cup.
Thus, back in January, James Ducker of the Telegraph reported that the ‘frustrated’ McAtee was pushing for a move to Bayer Leverkusen, only for Guardiola to refuse to sanction a sale, but surely the 22-year-old will move on this month.
The key question for Nottingham Forest supporters remains: would McAtee be a better signing than Hutchinson?
Well, let’s compare the duo to answer that question.
Appearances
75
82
Minutes
4,316
5,167
Goals
14
14
Assists
8
8
All statistics below are on a per-90 basis:
Expected goals
0.23
0.15
Expected assists
0.18
0.16
Progressive passes
3.29
3.01
Progressive carries
3.34
4.58
Goal-creating actions
0.31
0.32
Chances created
1.3
1.1
Big chances created
10
13
Big chances missed
4
6
Take-on success %
41.4%
39.8%
Touches
37
44
Worth stating first and foremost that the two timeframes chosen see both players spending the first season at a Championship club who were promoted, before representing the same side as they endured a miserable relegation from the Premier League, making the comparison as fair as possible.
With that in mind, remarkably, the pair scored the exact same number of goals and registered exactly the same number of assists, with Hutchinson doing so in around 850 more minutes on the pitch.
Their statistics are generally similar across the board when it comes to underlying metrics too, with McAtee coming out on top for progressive passes and chances created, while Hutchinson is the superior dribbler.
Given Sheffield United’s style of play, McAtee saw seven fewer touches per game, thereby afforded fewer opportunities to show his quality, making his number all the more impressive.
Thus, if a deal for Hutchinson becomes prohibitively expensive, the out-of-favour Man City youngster would surely be an excellent addition for Forest.
Hudson-Odoi 2.0: Nottingham Forest in talks to sign "outstanding" £35m star
Nottingham Forest are targeting attacking reinforcements
ByJoe NuttallAug 7, 2025
