Losing Elliot Anderson was a bitter blow to everyone associated with Nottingham Forest, but his £116m sale to Manchester City presented an opportunity for Oliver Glasner to make his own stamp on the side.

The Austrian will have been promised funds by owner Evangelos Marinakis, but dealings have been slow so far this window, with Xaver Schlager the only new arrival to date.

Ousmane Diomande and Givairo Read continue to be strongly linked with moves to join the Reds, but both sagas have been ongoing for the last 10 days and no agreement has yet been reached.

However, concerns are now starting to be voiced within the fanbase due to the lack of activity, with one area of the pitch starting to become an issue ahead of the 2026/27 Premier League campaign.

How Glasner can solve Forest's midfield puzzle in 2026/27

As previously mentioned, Schlager is Forest’s only senior addition throughout the summer window, but his previous experience working under Glasner could be vital for the Reds.

The Austrian arrived on a free transfer after leaving RB Leipzig and has wasted no time in netting his first goal for the club during the pre-season clash with Portimonense SAD.

He will certainly feature prominently in the manager’s 3-4-2-1 system, with Nicolas Dominguez a player who will likely thrive under his high-intensity system.

The Argentine has recently swapped shirt numbers and takes the vacant number eight after Anderson’s departure - a signal that the 28-year-old will be a key senior option this term.

Ibrahim Sangare’s new contract also highlights his importance to Glasner and the club, with the Ivorian penning a new deal until the summer of 2029 last week.

James McAtee has even featured in a deep-lying role throughout pre-season, but there’s no denying he’s more suited to an attacking role behind the striker.

Academy graduate Ryan Yates will likely be fifth choice in the pecking order next term, but it’s unclear if the player will be accepting such a position given his desire to make an impact.

However, at this stage, a partnership of Sangare and Dominguez looks most likely to start the season opener at the City Ground against Leeds in just under three weeks time.

How Forest can land a bigger talent than Bergvall

Despite the aforementioned options, Forest have been targeting moves for a plethora of midfield options to strengthen Glasner’s side ahead of the new campaign.

Tottenham Hotspur star Lucas Bergvall has consistently been linked with a move to the East Midlands, with a £38m bid even made for his signature.

However, Spurs could be pricing themselves out of a sale for the Swedish international, with a £60m fee required to land the 20-year-old talent before the window closes.

As a result, Glasner’s men have turned their attention to other targets and have started work on a potential deal to land Liverpool talent Curtis Jones.

Journalist Ben Jacobs provided the latest on the deal on talkSPORT’s YouTube, stating: “Forest have looked at Curtis Jones as well. We know they like Lucas Bergvall to replace Elliot Anderson.

“They have also made a formative enquiry to Liverpool for Jones, so his future definitely has a question mark over it as we head into the last month of the window.”

Earlier on in his interview, Jacob also confirmed that Andoni Iraola’s side could demand as much as €50m (£42m) to offload the 25-year-old this summer.

However, whilst it seems like an expensive move, he would offer more than fellow target Bergvall, with their respective stats from last season highlighting the difference in quality.

Jones managed to achieve an impressive pass accuracy of 92% in the Premier League last term, a tally which was 10% more than that of the Spurs youngster.

The aforementioned tally also placed him in the top 7% of all midfielders in Europe’s top-five leagues - highlighting his phenomenal ability to dictate the play from deep-lying positions.

His dominance with the ball at his feet was further reflected in his higher tally of chances created per 90 - with the Englishman able to register more than double the number achieved by the Swede.

Ball-carrying is another strength of the 25-year-old, who managed to complete 65% of his dribble attempts - also placing him above 90% of players in the Premier League.

Even without the ball, he managed to dominate Bergvall, subsequently making more defensive contributions and ball recoveries per 90 in England’s top-flight.

His tally of 6.7 per 90 for the latter placed him in the top 5% of players in his position across Europe - with Jones arguably being the perfect box-to-box option for Glasner.

£42m would be a club-record deal for Forest, but it would prove to be an excellent piece of business should the Liverpool star reach the next level upon any move to Nottingham.

There’s no denying Bergvall is a promising prospect, but ultimately, the new manager will want to make an immediate impact at the City Ground - with Jones undoubtedly able to provide just that.