Morgan Gibbs-White & Murillo form part of Nottingham Forest ‘kick on’ plan after relegation battle, Europa League semi-final run & season of four managers

Forest entered the 2025-26 campaign full of hope and expectation, with Nuno Espirito Santo having delivered European qualification. He was gone before a first continental outing in 30 years took place, with managerial reins being handed to Ange Postecoglou.

That proved to be a disastrous appointment, with the Australian taking in eight winless games at the helm before being unceremoniously sacked. Sean Dyche briefly steadied the ship, but failed to convince with his brand of football and became another victim of the Reds’ revolving door policy.

Vitor Pereira ultimately steered Forest to Premier League safety, while reaching the Europa League semi-finals, and is expected to remain in place through a transfer window that should deliver more comings and goings.

Enigmatic owner Evangelos Marinakis will have plenty of input when it comes to squad building, with the Greek billionaire renowned for his no-nonsense approach to business. He will not sanction sales unless Forest stand to benefit in sporting and financial senses.

Brazilian defender Murillo has signed a new contract, bringing exit rumours to a close there, while the hope is that Gibbs-White - on the back of an 18-goal season that somehow did not deliver a place in England’s World Cup squad - can be convinced to stay put.

Elliot Anderson may move on, amid links to Manchester rivals City and United, but Forest have foundations on which to build. Hutton sees positives there, with a man who took in seven appearances for the Reds back in 2013 - speaking in association with Arabic Casinos - telling GOAL: “The stability thing is big for me. When you change managers so often, there'll be different philosophies, different ideas and thoughts of the team moving forward. You change from a counter-attacking team to a team with a low block, it's very difficult.

“Since Pereira went in, he's settled everything down. You can see the results are going the right way, got to the semi-final of the Europa League, it's probably a step too far. I feel that they can kick on. If they can keep their best players and field them regularly and add a little bit to that, then I think they'll be fine.”

Pereira has said of efforts to keep prized assets in their current surroundings, with Anderson and Gibbs-White generating the most noise: “For me, they are top players and they deserve the top of the world. But I believe, if as a club we want to compete for different goals, we need to keep the best players.

“If not, if you change every season, it is difficult to be consistent and difficult to build something stronger. We cannot control the market, of course, but I think we are aligned; what I think and what the club thinks is to try to keep most of them and to try to control the market.

“I feel proud of my players. When I hear that a lot of clubs speak about Morgan and Elliot, it means we did good work as a team and individually. We did good work together.”

Pereira has also talked up the need for “stability” and “spirit” at the City Ground. He is the latest coach to be charged with the task of delivering those qualities after a campaign of history-making change.

Marinakis will be doing all he can to ensure that there is no firesale of top talent - with Player of the Year Neco Williams another of those being lined up for fresh terms - and Forest will be looking forward to fixture release day on June 19 knowing that they will not face the distraction of European competition in 2026-27.