Should Nottingham Forest have sought to bring back Patrick Bamford, and going with Lewis Grabban instead?
Nottingham Forest are among the favourites for promotion this season after a busy transfer window.
One of their big signings was Lewis Grabban at £6 million, who scored regularly for Sunderland and Aston Villa on loan spells last season.
The signing of Grabban meant Forest were out of the mix when Patrick Bamford became available from Middlesbrough, who Leeds paid a similar amount for at £7 million.
Bamford left Forest as a teenager to join Chelsea, a gamble which was perhaps worth taking, but did not work out for him as he would have hoped.
This summer would have been Forest’s chance to bring him home, had they not already spent their money on Bamford.
So far Grabban is yet to get off the mark, no goals in three games, while Bamford has one goal in one start plus an appearance off the bench.
It is too early to jump to conclusions off that, and Grabban may well end up outscoring the Leeds forward, but Bamford still would have been the smarter long term option.
Grabban is 30, with Bamford 24-years-old, and in a couple of years time, the transfer may be even more weighted in Leeds’ favour.
Forest are all in on promotion this season, and if the Grabban deal helps secure top flight status then it will be a smart short term play. Fail, and it will reinforce the notion that they should have put their efforts towards Bamford instead.
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