Santo's 'revenge' to Edu: Zinchenko and Omari out of Europe

Nowhere like in England have the player lists submitted for European competitions stirred up so much dust. Liverpool, instead of Federico Chiesa, registered 16-year-old Rio Engumou; Chelsea left out Facundo Buonanotte, who arrived on the last day of the transfer window; Tottenham scratched Mathys Tel, for whom they paid 45,000,000 euros; and something similar was done by Nottingham Forest, a participant in this year’s edition of Europe’s second-tier competition – last season’s Europa League winner. As if the transfer window at the City Ground hadn’t already been turbulent enough, Forest decided to further “spice things up” by leaving out Omari Hutchinson – the most expensive signing in the club’s history – from the list of registered players for the group stage of the Europa League.

One normal day – that’s all Forest fans are asking of their club. But their wish just never seems to come true. Let’s recall: this July was quite turbulent at the City Ground. From threats of suing Tottenham for trying to secretly approach Morgan Gibbs-White, to the falling-out between club owner Evangelos Marinakis and coach Nuno Esprito Santo to the mentioned decision not to include a 43,500,000 signing in the squad for European competition. The official explanation for such a decision has not yet been given. Some British media link it precisely to the “disagreements” between Marinakis and Nuno Espírito Santo. Two weeks ago, the Portuguese coach said at a press conference that his relationship with the Greek owner wasn’t as good as last season, and The Athletic later revealed that in fact Edu – the new director of football operations for all clubs under Marinakis’ ownership – was the one responsible for the strained atmosphere in the City Ground offices.

Troubles in paradise: Nuno on his way out of Forest, Ange waits for a call

Edu arrived at the club with influential agent Kia Joorabchian as his ally, and from the start his relationship with Espírito Santo wasn’t good, reports The Athletic. On the other hand, Nuno’s representative is Jorge Mendes, the Portuguese super-agent who had overseen several transfers to Forest in recent years, the last of which was back in June of last year. Now it is Joorabchian who has taken the lead, having been partly involved in selling Anthony Elanga to Newcastle, and whose clients also include Douglas Luiz and Omari Hutchinson, both of whom joined the club this June.

Career on restart: Zinchenko became part of the wood

Did this create tension between the two Portuguese men? Very likely. Was leaving Hutchinson off the squad list Nuno’s way of getting back at Joorabchian and Edu? After all, Forest really did “double up” in every position in this transfer window, and competition in the attacking department is fierce. On the right wing, Dylan Bakwa, James McAtee, Callum Hudson-Odoi, and Dan Ndoye can all play, with the latter two ahead of Hutchinson in the pecking order – and even on the left wing, where Arnaud Kalimuendo can also feature. Meanwhile, Morgan Gibbs-White is untouchable in the number 10 role, with the aforementioned McAtee expected to be his first backup.

They are still available: African stars, Arsenal players, WC winners….

Still, leaving out the club’s record signing from European competition – in which Forest hadn’t appeared for three decades – couldn’t help but cause a stir. Although, it’s not the only “controversial” decision Nuno has made. Many can’t understand why he also omitted Oleksandr Zinchenko, a player signed on the last day of the transfer window, considering that there are only three full-backs in the squad – Neco Williams, Ola Aina, and Nicola Savona. What’s more, Forest lack a player with European competition experience of the kind the former Arsenal defender brings. More questions than answers.