Will Nottingham Forest regret not moving for Bjorn Engels?

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Nottingham Forest’s links with Olympiakos are obviously well known. Both clubs are owned by Evangelos Marinakis and the partnership has seen some players making the switch to the City Ground.

One Olympiakos player who is heading to the Championship is Belgian talent, Bjorn Engels. Once heavily linked with Arsenal the Daily Mail suggest he is heading to Brentford in a £3.5 million deal.

So why were Nottingham Forest not in the running?

There is one simple rationale, they do not need centre-backs. Michael Dawson arrived back at the club this summer. Nottingham Forest can also call upon Joe Worrall and Tobias Figueiredo. But their other options are not exactly inspiring. Danny Fox and Jack Robinson are left-backs by trade. Michael Mancienne has been linked with an exit and Thomas Lam is arguably better in midfield, or away from the starting XI. So Engels could have been a useful recruit, especially at that bargain price.

He was also not one of the foreign players who was left out in the cold by Olympiakos last season. Marinakis banished many after the Greek powerhouse’s struggled. Engels, however, was present in the final four games of the season.

With Dawson, Worrall and Figueiredo the Reds likely have enough at the back with the other cover to decide a move for Engels was not justified. That seems a sensible decision. But if he thrives at Brentford, some fans will ask the question…’why were we not in for him?’