Inside Nottingham Forest’s pre-season: Dark glasses, drones and Elliot Anderson singing

Nuno is confident club will use Spanish training camp to forge squad unity, rehearse his philosophy and put tumultuous campaign behind them

It is 6.30pm and Nuno Espírito Santo is observing a small-sided drill at the end of another double training session, wearing a cap with the Nottingham Forest crest.
We are in the Spanish city of Murcia, and with temperatures inching towards 36 degrees these are the moments that Nuno believes are absolutely crucial ahead of Forest’s third year in the Premier League.
Preparation is key for Forest’s head coach, and ever since his appointment in December he has been patiently waiting for this week on the Mediterranean coast.
After an excruciating season in which Forest narrowly avoided relegation, in a campaign blighted by a points deduction and VAR controversies, Nuno has always regarded pre-season as fundamental to his management.
Indeed, a major regret for the Portuguese last season was that he was parachuted in just before Christmas, with a hectic schedule which deprived him of precious time on the training pitches.
Now, however, this camp is where Nuno can build team spirit, while outlining his philosophy and ideas to his players.
The mood is always positive ahead of a new season, yet within the Forest squad there appears to be genuine excitement over what lies ahead.
“When you have people all going in the same direction, it’s much easier,” Nuno told Telegraph Sport.
“These times are about creating a bond, and the players getting to know each other better. All the club has to work together with this mentality.
“You can never guess what is going to happen, but what we’re trying to do is anticipate the difficulties we’re going to face. If you have this togetherness you can face the problems ahead stronger and better prepared to overcome them.”
Double sessions have been the norm in broiling temperatures, with the squad often broken into three groups for ball-work.
The goalkeepers, Matz Sels, Carlos Miguel and Matt Turner, are training separately with coach Rui Barbosa, and wearing dark glasses specially designed to improve reaction speed.
A drone buzzes overhead, collecting data for the analysts sheltering nearby from the heat.
In friendly matches, Nuno has taken the chance to experiment. In some matches he has played with a back-three and utilised Morgan Gibbs-White as a false nine. Though Nuno is happy to tweak formations, he insists there is a clear plan on how he wants the team to play.
Squad unity is key, and a team meal last weekend was regarded as a significant moment. Players, coaches and staff all gathered for an evening at the Odiseo restaurant in Murcia’s city centre.
Forest’s new signings had to perform the obligatory initiation songs. Miguel’s rendition of Parado no Bailão and Elliot Anderson’s Stand By Me were particularly memorable.
There was also a chance for some downtime during the training camp. Many of the players took on the 18-hole golf course designed by Jack Nicklaus on the La Torre resort.
Joe Worrall is the squad’s expert, while Gibbs-White, Chris Wood and Turner also play to a decent level.
Padel, darts and water polo were other distractions, and table tennis matches between players and staff were said to have become very intense. A full-sized tennis court was also set up in one of the hotel meeting rooms.
Away from the training camp, work on the transfer window is gathering pace ahead of the new season.
Ever since Forest’s promotion their transfer activity has been a source of constant scrutiny, which is both amusing and irritating to senior officials.
Despite the amount of signings in the Premier League – it is over 50 now – if you dive a little deeper, their strategy arguably deserves respect.
Over the past 12 months, 10 permanent outfield signings have arrived at a cost of around £100 million. Callum Hudson-Odoi (£3 million), Murillo (£10.2 million) and Anthony Elanga (£13.5 million) are three of their best additions, with their values having all dramatically increased.
The average age of the outfield players in the squad has also come down, with a shift towards more athletic recruits.
That policy has been driven by chief football officer Ross Wilson, global technical director George Syrianos and head of recruitment Pedro Ferreira.
Forest have made five signings so far this summer: the most expensive is Anderson from Newcastle, with the midfielder joining as part of a £35 million deal which involved goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos moving to Tyneside.
Anderson’s move is understood to have been worth around £15 million and Newcastle manager Eddie Howe did not want to sell him.
A significant coup has been the £10.1 million (€12 million plus add-ons) capture of Serbia international Nikola Milenkovic from Fiorentina.
The centre-back played in all of Serbia’s games at Euro 2024 and, considering the price, Forest were surprised that the deal was completed with relative ease. He is expected to form a partnership in the centre of defence with Murillo, last season’s player of the year.
Eric da Silva Moreira, a £1.2 million signing from St Pauli, was a relatively low-key arrival from Germany but has highly impressed the squad. During the camp in Spain, at least two senior Forest players highlighted Moreira, 18, as one of the standout performers and a young talent to watch.
Teenage centre-back Zach Abbott, a product of the club’s academy, joined the first team in Murcia and is also regarded as one for the future. Last year he was a serious target for Manchester United but signed a new contract.
Another player to impress in pre-season yet with greater expectations is Ibrahim Sangaré, the defensive midfielder signed from PSV Eindhoven for £30 million on last year’s summer deadline day.
An Ivory Coast international, and Forest’s record signing, Sangaré endured a difficult first season. One of Nuno’s frustrations was that, soon after his appointment, Sangaré flew out for the Africa Cup of Nations in January, just when he was coming into form.
On his return, Sangaré was struck down with a virus and lost more than 3kg in weight. Since coming back for pre-season, he appears in great shape and has been excellent in friendly matches.
Midfield is a position that will give Nuno a headache, but a welcome one. “Having all the options and different profiles of midfielders, who can compliment each other, is very important,” he said.
“We have Ibrahim, Danilo, [Ryan] Yates, Nico [Domínguez], Elliot, Morgan: all of them have different things that can be good for the squad and the team. I must confess that in midfield, we are now very, very good.”
With a little under three weeks to go before the start of the season, Forest will look to make further additions. The priority is two wingers, a forward, a left-back and another goalkeeper (Crystal Palace’s Sam Johnstone is a long-term target).
A £10 million deal for Paraguayan winger Ramón Sosa, 24, from Argentine club Talleres is understood to be the next potential incoming.
Evangelos Marinakis, the club’s owner, made a surprise visit to Spain for the final game against Elche last Friday and reiterated that he is determined to provide the funds for success.
Sales have also been crucial. Before the dreaded ‘PSR deadline’ of June 30, Moussa Niakhaté was sold to Lyon for a fee of around £25 million, joining former Forest team-mate Orel Mangala, who moved to the French club for a fee of £19.5 million after an initial loan.
Those departures are expected to be enough to avoid any future breaches, following the four-point deduction last season.
Nuno said: “Now we don’t need to worry about those issues that took so much energy out of us last season. We are in a new cycle and looking forward to the new season.”
Forest continue to grow as a club off the field and senior staff point to a pivotal moment over the summer.
A highly regarded analyst – whom we have chosen not to name – was headhunted by a ‘big six’ club who regularly play in the Champions League, and named as the outstanding candidate, yet chose to remain with Forest.
Though Forest’s head of performance Alek Gross completed a move to Brighton this week, taking a similar role with the women’s teams, other staff members have rejected approaches from perceived bigger clubs in recent times. Retaining staff despite interest elsewhere is regarded as further evidence of a club moving in the right direction.
The training ground continues to improve, with a new gymnasium, medical facilities, performance office and sauna installed over the summer in a multi-million pound investment.
Over the past 12 months the club’s headquarters has been transformed to a high level, with head of football operations Ed Henderson and the operations department heavily involved in planning.
In the past, there was often a sense of concern when potential new signings were shown around the facilities, but not now.
More improvements are expected on the first-team pitches, while the club is aiming to take an innovative data-led approach to enhance player performance.
Investment has been provided for the academy facility, which has included replacing the indoor and outdoor 3G surfaces.
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Forest will continue their pre-season preparations against Villarreal on Friday, before facing Marinakis’s Europa Conference League winners, Olympiacos, in Piraeus next week.
The season then kicks off at home against Bournemouth on Aug 17.
While Nuno will decline to set any targets, after last season’s drama, he will simply be hoping for a far more comfortable ride.