Nottingham Forest signed Joao Carvalho for a club record £13.2m, which could rise to £15m, but is he really worth his high transfer fee? 

Nottingham Forest have signed the Portuguese midfielder and handed him a massive five-year deal at the City Ground.

The deal emulates the kind of approach Wolverhampton Wanderers took last season, which saw them crowned champions.

However, this Carvalho deal is not without risk.

Whilst Carvalho is a highly rated player, who has impressed in the Portugal youth set ups, netting five times for the under 21's, he is relatively untested at high level senior football.

£15m is a large amount of money for a player who made just seven league appearances last season at Benfica.

The majority of his time in Portugal has been spent with Benfica B, who play in Portugal's second tier - he also had a loan spell with League clingers on Vitoria de Setubal.

For the money Nottingham Forest are shelling out on the player, they might expect him to come to the club and make an immediate massive impact at the City ground. In fact, it may take the Portuguese player time to adapt to the pace and physicality of the English game.

When Wolverhampton Wanderers signed Helder Costa for a multi-million pound fee, he was already a far more established player. He arrived at Molinuex having just played 25 Ligue One games for high-flying Monaco.

For their outlay, Nottingham Forest are largely buying the potential of Carvalho.

If he does kick on, as many expect he will, Nottingham Forest have a serious talent on their hands, who could perhaps grow with the club into Premier League football.

However, if the move does not work out, Forest are left with a stuttering player on a mega five year contract.

No matter whom the player or manager, a long term contract always comes with an element of risk.

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