Nottingham Forest: Reds missed out on a £2.5 million acquisition, and he later became an £80 million Premier League star.
Despite Forest’s current love for transfers, they missed out on this England and Premier League man at the wrong time.
Simply said, it’s weird to consider that Nottingham Forest might at some point lose a prominent transfer target of theirs.
Whether that was during the renowned Brian Clough era at the club or the present environment of wild spending. Similar to Chelsea, Nottingham Forest’s owner Evangelos Marinakis believes that wealth brings success, and the club’s Premier League survival under Steve Cooper has thus far supported this belief.
How much have Nottingham Forest spent on transfers?
Nottingham Forest brought in a quite ridiculous 21 new players this summer. Spending a total of £105.7 million (€122.05m) in just one window, it pushed their spending combined with last term, up to a whopping £274.7m.
Steve Cooper has certainly had his work cut out gelling a seemingly ever-expanding group. Yet with the side sitting 12th – even getting a 1-0 win on the third day of the season at Stamford Bridge, Forest look to have made progress in convincing fans they’re an established first division side once again.
However, if Harry Maguire had been signed, they may have arrived in the promised land sooner.
Why wasn’t Harry Maguire signed by Nottingham Forest?
Maguire may have moved to the City Ground as early as 2014, according to comments made by former manager and acclaimed player Stuart Pearce, which were published by the Athletic back in 2019. Maguire was one of two players Pearce was interested in, the other being Che Adams, a non-league player who was just beginning to display the makings of a quality Premier League player.
The veteran defender discussed a rift with the chairman in the essay by Stuart Pearce and Dougie Freedman that looked back on a turbulent time for Forest. He had already signed Michail Antonio and Britt Assombalonga. These two players left for a combined profit of £15 million. However, the chairman’s mistrust reared its ugly head when he revealed his next two targets.
“I looked back recently at two players I took to the chairman as potential signings during my time at Forest – Che Adams and Harry Maguire,” says Pearce. “One of those has gone for £15 million, and the other £80 million. You look back at things like that with a rueful smile on your face. Because people hadn’t heard of those two at the time, it was decided it was something that they would not finance. (Pearce, 2019)
Hindsight truly spirals the situation into a whole new stratosphere for Nottingham Forest. Especially so, considering the nature of the players they lost out on and just how cheaply they could’ve got them for. Pearce continued, illustrating some astounding numbers given today’s transfer inflation:“We asked Sheffield United for a price on Maguire and I don’t think the two clubs could come to an agreement. With Adams, you were talking about £20,000 (from Ilkeston). Clubs like Forest should be mopping up young talent like that.”What was Harry Maguire’s purchase price from Manchester United?
Looking back causes Forest problems with money, but there are also emotional issues to consider. Of course, Maguire joined Leicester City, the East Midlands rival of Forest, after playing for Hull City following a £2.5 million transfer from Sheffield United. When Manchester United swooped up the center defender for £80 million in 2019, he gave the Foxes a sizable transfer sum in return for taking on enormous development.
At this point, Forest had already agonisingly watched their rivals win a historic Premier League in 2016, so to see a ‘could’ve been’ so to speak, go awry must’ve been extra painful.
How much is Harry Maguire worth now?
Now, even regarding Maguire’s oscillating form and seemingly eternal scapegoat spotlight, he still remains a staunch Gareth Southgate starter.
