The 2017/18 season is now behind, as June turns into July the end of last season turns into the start of the new campaign.

Whilst the big kick off is some time away yet, this is the month where clubs begin pre-season games and tours, where deals are concluded and squads take shape.

It's happening across the country, at my club, your club and at Nottingham Forest.

Forest fans are going into 2018/19 with more hope than ever before. The summer recruitment has been staggering with several high-profile arrivals from the Jorge Mendes stable.

There's still plenty to be done though, the squad is forming but not complete and, if the promise is going to become solid success, Forest will still need to get a handful of deals over the line.

Here are three deals FLW expects Aitor Karanka to complete over the coming weeks.

Uninspiring? Maybe, but Jack Colback would be a vital component in the new Forest set up. He looked excellent there last season and that partnership with Ben Watson could be the heartbeat of a successful side.

Wages might be a stumbling block, but we think Colback will be wearing red sooner rather than later.

Another loan star who impressed last season, the saga over where Costel Pantilimon will play has raged on all summer.

Forest looks a likely destination though, Karanka is clearly impressed with the keeper and if they're aspiring to be top flight, then they need a top flight keeper.

He's been linked with a move to Greece, but there's still hope and recent transfer moves might strengthen Forest's resolve to bring him to the club.

He's on the books of “super agent” Jorge Mendes, just like Joao Carvalho, Diogo Goncalves and Gil Dias, who have already committed to Aitor Karanka's revolution this summer.