Nottingham Forest have had a fine transfer market already, making a club-record signing in Joao Carvalho and several other statement signings.

The Reds have virtually bought a whole new team, backing Aitor Karanka with serious funds with a lot of players coming from the continent.

Super-agent Jorge Mendes has been an influential figure helping Forest bring in some big names, including Carvalho and his Benfica teammate Diogo Goncalves.

Yet, as well as that, they've managed to secure some experienced Championship players too in the form of Jack Robinson and particularly Michael Dawson.

Therefore, similarities have been made with Wolves from last season but before a ball was kicked there were serious doubts about Nuno Espirito Santo's men.

Whilst it worked out for them, it may not be the same for the East Midlands side. Here we give four reasons why they may not be pushing for the top two next May...

Whilst this can be rectified in the coming weeks, Forest are looking at least one player short in central midfield.

Ben Watson is a tough, experienced player and Ben Osborn could do a decent job but they need to sign a deep playmaker. Those attacking players will need quick, quality service but there's no player in the side to do that at the minute.

Forest's recruitment has been incredible in the past two windows, they've brought in so many players, including nine this window with more to come.

And, with few having left so far, Karanka is going to have a very bloated squad and it could be hard for him to manage, potentially causing cliques in the dressing room if results don't go their way early on.

As mentioned, Wolves have proven that bringing in a lot of foreign players can work but there are countless examples when it hasn't.

The reality is Forest are going to be playing with almost an entire new XI on August 4 and they will have had about a month together at most. It's very risky and it might take until Christmas until they are a proper unit that understands exactly what Karanka wants.

The signing of Grabban was very important and he should get goals but if he suffers an injury or a lack of form then there's not much behind him.

Forest's goalscoring issues last season were remarkably bad and the only natural number nine brought in to change that is Grabban which puts a lot of pressure on him.