Nottingham Forest have been up and down in the Championship over the last few seasons and Matt Mills has revealed to the Undr The Cosh podcast that they once had some lofty transfer targets under his former boss.

The defender spent three years at the club, when they were battling at the wrong end of the Championship table.

Mills was a mainstay in the team and made over 80 appearances for the club, as they managed to avoid the drop zone and stay in the second tier.

 

 

Even though they were led by Dougie Freedman, who did manage to keep them afloat in the division, Mills has revealed that the boss had big aspirations as to who he wanted to bring to the City Ground.

One such name was Johann Berg Gudmundsson, who has since spent six seasons in the Premier League and racked up well over 100 appearances for Burnley.

He remains a regular starter at Turf Moor and has been a key attacking player for them at times - but it has now been revealed to the Undr The Cosh podcast that he could very nearly have ended up at Forest.

Speaking about the interest in the player, Mills said: "I’d met Dougie in his office because I was captain, and he was talking about all the players he wanted to bring in.

Gudmundsson, the winger who went to Burnley. He had all the players that he wanted to buy, and then they sacked him."

Ultimately, no move happened because of the departure of the current manager but you can't help but think about the potential impact that the current Burnley man could have had at the City Ground if he did end up joining.

Forest did go on to compete in the top six - and Steve Cooper will be hoping to do the same again this season.

The Verdict

Johann Berg Gudmundsson could have been a really shrewd signing for Forest if they had brought him in.

His experience since in the Premier League has shown that there is some talent there and he does remain a key player at Turf Moor. In the second tier, he could arguably have been one of the better players in his position.

Forest managed to go on to bigger things without him anyway but the attacker could certainly have boosted their strikeforce.

His record in the Championship was superb too - so he could quite easily have been just what the club needed to be able to kick on that little bit more and perhaps seal a promotion from the division.