The high-risk £35m transfer that Nottingham Forest could seal before the deadline
Nottingham Forest have been linked with a transfer bid for a Barcelona star whose signing could be a huge gamble.
From the moment that it became clear that Elliot Anderson would move to Manchester City for a club record fee, Nottingham Forest have been working to find a replacement. So far, however, it’s a search that has borne little fruit.
Xavier Schlager has arrived on a free transfer, but the need for a regular starter still exists. Interest in Tijjani Reijnders came to nothing, Arne Engels and Davide Frattesi went elsewhere, and Lucas Bergvall remains at Tottenham Hotspur. Just days before the start of the season, the void remains unfilled.
Not that Forest have stopped trying. Reports from Spain now suggest that they’re taking another look at Barcelona’s Marc Casadó – a high-risk target who has talent but who also struggled to find his best form last season. But can they get this deal over the line, and would it be the right move if they do?
Will Nottingham Forest sign Marc Casadó this summer?
By the end of the 2024/25 season, Casadó had marked himself out as a rising star at the Camp Nou. Injuries to other midfielders had provided first-team opportunities and the youngster, a product of the famed La Masia academy, shone.
Fast forward a year, however, and he has fallen out of favour. Now deemed to be surplus to requirements, Barcelona are expected to cash in, with the asking price believed to be in the region of €40m (£35m). The 22-year-old has endured a very difficult year.
When he first burst onto the scene in Spain, clubs like Chelsea and Manchester United were routinely linked with a bid. Now, the list of suitors is a little shorter, with Nottingham Forest among them.
Spanish outlet Sport reports that the club have an ongoing interest in the midfielder as Barcelona shop him around – not that they’re alone. Benfica have him down as an alternative to João Palhinha should they fail to sign the Bayern Munich midfielder (quite possible given that Newcastle are also in negotiations), while at least two teams from the Saudi Pro League have made enquiries.
As it stands, the Saudi sides have been the most proactive, but Casadó is reportedly keeping his options open – shorthand, it seems, for a preference to stay in Europe – and Nottingham Forest have every opportunity to make their move.
Sport’s reporting agrees with other sources, however, in suggesting that they haven’t done so. That may be because Forest are waiting to see if the price comes down as Barcelona get more desperate to ensure a sale, or it may be that they have other players further up their shopping list. It’s not certain that Forest’s interest will turn into a transfer bid.
Should they do so, they will be taking on a reclamation project as well as a talented midfielder. But just how big of a gamble might it prove to be?
The stats which prove that Casadó would be a very high risk signing
Casadó first broke in Barcelona’s first team in earnest in 2024 when injuries necessitated his promotion to a starting position – and he made a strong impression over the course of 36 appearances in that season.
An excellent passer with fine technique, Casadó was also strong defensively and appeared to be developing nicely, earning his first two caps for Spain, although a knee ligament injury ultimately cost him the last two months of that campaign. It may also have cost him rather more.
When he returned to the line-up at the start of the 2025/26 season, Casadó struggled. He seemed to be off the pace both physically and mentally, having apparently lost some speed and agility. The quality of his performances plummeted – he could still pick a pass, but he was far less effective off the ball and he appeared to be drifting through games for long periods.
He lost his first-team place – he ultimately started just 10 La Liga games last season – and is now up for sale. Barcelona appear to have concluded that his best form is unlikely to return. Nottingham Forest would be betting that they’re wrong if they sign him.
The graphic below demonstrates the severity of Casadó’s short-term decline. His passing wasn’t a problem, but he tailed off dramatically across almost every other key statistical metric – he made fewer tackles, forced fewer turnovers and lost the ball more often.
The numbers from 2024/25 are highly promising, those from last season largely worrying. It’s the former which Forest (or another of his suitors) will be hoping is the fairer reflection of his ability.
The question, unanswerable from a distance, is whether Casadó simply needs a fresh start and a chance to clear his head, or whether his performances last year simply reflect a new post-injury reality for him.
The injury, although problematic, should not have been all that severe. He was only out for two months and plenty of players have come back from similar issues with limited ill effects. That suggests that either his rehabilitation went poorly in some way, or that the problem isn’t so much physical as psychological.
If Casadó can return to his best form, he would likely prove to be an outstanding signing. If he continues to play as he did last year, that’s rather less likely to be the case, and he would make a distinctly underwhelming replacement for the exceptional Anderson. It will be interesting to see whether Nottingham Forest take the plunge.