For the first time in 23 years, Nottingham Forest will be a top flight club in England once more after they were victorious in Sunday's Championship play-off final against Huddersfield Town.

The Reds have been exiled from the Premier League since 1999 and in that time they've even felt what it's like to play in the third tier of English football.

A turn-around of epic proportions though under Steve Cooper following his September replacement of Chris Hughton saw the Tricky Trees go from bottom of the Championship table and flirt with automatic promotion - that was until Bournemouth ended their hopes.

Despite having to settle for the play-offs, Forest were able to get through them - albeit with some scares along the way against Sheffield United in the semi-finals and then controversial penalty claims against the Terriers in the final.

Now the work needs to begin very soon to address the current squad and where the club need to add to Cooper's current options - let's look at EIGHT transfer scenarios that may play out now football is over and done with until August.

One of Forest's transfer priorities this summer must surely be to secure Spence on a permanent deal following his highly-successful loan from Middlesbrough.

No-one expected it to work so well, but Spence was arguably the division's top wing-back in 2021-22, and his performances have attracted interest from big clubs in England and overseas.

Now that their place in the Premier League is secure though, Forest are confident of doing a deal, with FLW exclusively revealing that the 21-year-old was keen on staying on a full-time basis if promotion was won at Wembley.

Tottenham and Brentford are said to be the main players to rival Forest for his signature, but there will be every hope that Steve Cooper can do a deal for the youngster.

Naturally, there will be players in the current Forest squad that won't be good enough to step up to the next level, and one of those could be Cafu.

The 29-year-old Portuguese midfielder has been with the Tricky Trees since October 2020, initially joining on loan from Olympiakos - the other club owned by Evangelos Marinakis - before securing a full-time move in February 2021.

Having played just 14 times in the league this past season though, it wouldn't be a great shock to see Cafu depart - potentially back home to Portugal, where he didn't rule out returning to Vitoria Guimaraes at some point in the future.

Forest's return to the top flight has also strengthened their hand when it comes to keeping some of their best current players - including Brennan Johnson.

It has been a remarkable rise for the young Wales international, who this time last year was suffering play-off heartbreak on loan at Lincoln City - now he's coming off the back of an 18-goal, 10-assist Championship season and is being courted by some of England's top clubs.

Forest are Johnson's boyhood club though and after holding off on contract talks for a long time, Johnson will now more-than likely want to stay at the City Ground, which means the Reds' hierarchy will be rebuffing any transfer offers this summer.

A position that Cooper will be looking to strengthen is in defence, where besides his regular starting trio he doesn't have much depth.

Joe Worrall, Steve Cook and Scott McKenna have all been very solid for Forest, but besides them there is the inexperience of Loic Mbe Soh, the January signing of Jonathan Panzo who hasn't featured much at all and also Tobias Figueiredo, who could depart this summer on a free.

Attentions have seemingly turned to Rangers stalwart Goldson, who has started regularly for the Gers for the last four years and was a big part of their run to the Europa League final this past year.

Available on a free this summer, Goldson would be a big coup for Forest.

Some surprising news emerged following Forest's promotion as it was revealed that Morgan Gibbs-White was on the club's transfer radar.

One of the Championship's best attacking players this past season during his loan spell with Sheffield United, Gibbs-White is destined to be a Premier League player next season, but he may see his future away from Wolves after they've not given him the desired playing time in the last couple of years when he may have been ready for it.

Per Alan Nixon though, Forest want to give him that, although it would take a significant fee to land the 22-year-old.

It cannot be ruled out even though it would take up a large chunk of Forest's budget - they do appear to be very keen on adding Gibbs-White to their options.

With the step up a level, there will be young Forest individuals that will need to seek game-time elsewhere due to the squad strengthening that Cooper is likely to oversee.

One player in particular that could be in need of a temporary departure is Mighten, who is a top prospect with 62 senior matches for the club already to his name.

The 20-year-old American-born England youth international appeared 24 times in the Championship this past season, but rarely was he a starter under Cooper and his winger-less system that has been used frequently does not suit Mighten.

A Championship switch for the youngster could really be beneficial for his development so Forest still have a player to work with in the coming years - if he doesn't get that move then he could stall.

One of the more underrated individuals of Forest's side who has perhaps been overshadowed by the likes of Johnson and Spence is Philip Zinckernagel, whose loan deal from Watford has been very successful.

The 27-year-old Dane scored six goals and notched seven assists in the Reds' promotion campaign, and naturally fans are wanting to know if he will be pursued on a permanent deal.

With Watford expected to want around £2 million according to The Mirror, it appears to be a no-brainer in regards to Cooper bringing Zinckernagel in on a permanent basis as it would represent a massive bargain - even if he didn't start every week.

Forest were majorly successful in the loan market this season, and their mid-season addition of Keinan Davis brought speed, strength and an eye to goal to Cooper's side for the remainder of the campaign.

Five goals in 18 appearances in the league was a reasonable output for the 23-year-old, but it was his all-round game which was more important to the Forest team.

In an ideal world, Forest would easily be able to sign Davis permanently for a reasonable fee and with no competition - recent reports though suggest that Aston Villa want as much as £15 million for his signature though, which could scupper things.