A player signed by Steve Cooper in 2023 is now eager to depart Nottingham Forest due to growing frustration at the City Ground. With Evangelos Marinakis and Ross Wilson aiming to streamline Nuno Espirito Santo’s extensive squad, significant squad upheaval is anticipated at the City Ground this summer. Already, three players have been released – Felipe, Cheikhou Kouyate, and Wayne Hennessey – and another player is now seeking an exit from Nottingham Forest.
According to a report from The Athletic, Odysseas Vlachodimos is eager to depart Nottingham Forest this summer. The Greece international is reportedly very frustrated with the limited playing time he has received at the City Ground and is especially keen to secure a move away as soon as possible.
Vlachodimos had only five Premier League appearances last season, the final one being in December during Nottingham Forest’s 5-0 defeat to Fulham at Craven Cottage.
Matt Turner then assumed the No. 1 position, but he was subsequently replaced by the United States international Matz Sels.
Upon Sels’ arrival from Strasbourg in January, Vlachodimos found himself not even making the bench as Nuno chose to exclude him from the squad entirely.
According to The Athletic, Nottingham Forest would be willing to sell Vlachodimos for a fee of £4.5 million this summer. This amounts to a modest £3.2 million loss compared to the initial £7.7 million that Nottingham Forest paid to acquire Vlachodimos from Benfica in September 2023.
It’s understandable that the Greece international, Vlachodimos, feels this way. We sympathize with him, as the 2023/24 season proved to be incredibly turbulent for him personally.
Not only did the 30-year-old make the decision to uproot his life and his family to leave Portugal after spending five years at Benfica, but he also voluntarily relinquished a No. 1 spot in Lisbon that afforded him regular playing time in the UEFA Champions League and the opportunity to compete for silverware.
It’s likely that Vlachodimos didn’t make all those sacrifices to become third choice at Nottingham Forest. He presumably expected a more prominent role and more than just five Premier League games to showcase his skills.
Hopefully, the Nottingham Forest No.23 can secure a move to a new club this summer. Otherwise, he might have to wait a while before departing the City Ground, considering his contract runs until July 2027.