The strengthening of Nottingham Forest's off the pitch team is set to be confirmed in the coming week with the arrival of Dane Murphy from Barnsley, per the Nottingham Post.

The American has been at Oakwell as CEO for two years after holding technical director roles at two MLS clubs - Real Salt Lake and then D.C. United - and is credited as being one of the driving forces behind the club's success in the 2020-21 campaign on the pitch but also their business away from it.

Chris Brass and George Syrianos have already joined the recruitment team at the City Ground according to The Athletic but confirmation of Murphy's arrival as CEO is apparently imminent.

Despite not being officially at Forest yet, The Athletic believe that Murphy has already been a part of meetings surrounding the club's transfer strategy this summer as they seek to strengthen the squad and improve on last season's 17th place finish.

And it's expected that Forest will follow a similar route to what Barnsley have done in terms of incomings in recent times by buying relatively young, hungry players with Dutch midfielder Zian Flemming one of the first targets.

The Verdict

Murphy's move to Forest has seemingly been in the works for a number of weeks now after he ran down his contract with Barnsley, and on the face of it it's a really progressive move for the Reds.

Evangelos Marinakis seems to be willing to freshen things up and by bringing in someone who has had a lot of success at a Championship rival of Forest's is a real statement of intent.

Now manager Chris Hughton needs to be backed in the same way that Marinakis has shaken up the club at boardroom and recruitment level - there's positive signs there with bids for Flemming and Watford winger Phil Zinckernagel targeted, but Forest fans will be desperate for new signings to be confirmed soon but they may have to wait for Murphy to officially start his job first.