Nottingham Forest have had a tough time in recent seasons trying to replace a club legend who left the City Ground after promotion back in 2022.
Brice Samba played a pivotal role in helping Nottingham Forest end their 23-year Premier League exile, with his most impressive performance in a Forest shirt coming in his penultimate game for the club during the play-off semi-final victory over Sheffield United.
Samba made three crucial saves during normal and extra time, before making himself a hero during the penalty shootout. He saved spot kicks from Oliver Norwood, Conor Hourihane and now Forest player Morgan Gibbs-White, sending the club to Wembley and subsequently winning promotion.
However, after the play-off final, Samba decided he wanted to return to France, with the ‘keeper departing and joining Ligue 1 side Lens for £4m – an absolute bargain for the French side.
The club made two loan signings for the goalkeeper position for the Premier League campaign, with Dean Henderson and Keylor Navas arriving on loan but not staying permanently.
This left them short in the goalkeeping department, with the club dipping back into the market last summer.
Matt Turner’s record at Nottingham Forest
The Reds decided to buy goalkeeper Matt Turner during the summer from fellow Premier League side Arsenal for a deal rising to £10m with add-ons.
Turner, a USA international, has made 21 appearances for the club since his arrival, conceding 31 times with multiple errors coming from the ‘keeper himself.
His mistake against Tottenham for Dejan Kulusevski’s goal is just one of a number of errors he’s made, with the former Arsenal man struggling to nail down the Forest starting position.
That was one of three mistakes leading to a goal that the USMNT star has made in 2023/24, a figure that puts him close to the top of the tree in the top flight.
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