For the Reds, he has been awful these past few weeks.
To put it mildly, Nottingham Forest’s transfer business has been hit or miss, with many of the new players brought in since the club’s elevation failing to have an effect at the City Ground.
Among the players who have let us down greatly is goalie Matt Turner. After spending almost £10 million, the American goalkeeper joined the team—a ridiculous amount of money for a guy who had finished second to Aaron Ramsdale at the Emirates.
Under former manager Steve Cooper, he was regarded as first choice, but a string of mistakes has caused him to fall back in the hierarchy once more.
The 29-year-old has a goals prevented xG of -5.45 in the Premier League this season, which indicates that, given the opportunities he’s faced in goal, he has allowed up at least five more goals than he should have.
He hasn’t played in the Premier League since the Gunners lost 2-1 at the end of January, and Matz Sels, a Belgian international, has taken his position.
Another player who has been a standout performer for the club in one area has underperformed in recent weeks, in spite of his accomplishments in the East Midlands.
Chris Wood’s stats at Nottingham Forest in 2023/24
Chris Wood, an experienced striker, is still Forest’s leading scorer with 12 goals in the league thus far this season. However, he hasn’t added to his total since the team’s 3-1 loss to Tottenham Hotspur at the beginning of April.
Before, he had a run of four straight games in which he scored goals, but under Nuno Espirito Santo, his play has recently suffered, leading to some concerning statistics.
The New Zealand international is the Reds player with the most missed huge chances this season—12—with ten of those misses occurring in the previous six games.
Although his goals have helped Forest practically guarantee their place in the Premier League for another year, the 32-year-old could have easily finished this season with over 20 goals if he had continued to finish well in front of goal.
Even though he ranks ninth in the league for most opportunities missed this season, the players who are ahead of him are on much larger teams that prefer to control possession, which gives them more opportunities to score.
| Big chances missed in the Premier League 23/24 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Player | Big chances missed | Big chances missed (last six PL games) |
| Erling Haaland | 33 | 7 |
| Darwin Nunez | 27 | 3 |
| Nicolas Jackson | 23 | 6 |
| Ollie Watkins | 21 | 2 |
| Alexander Isak | 18 | 5 |
| Brennan Johnson | 16 | 7 |
| Mohamed Salah | 15 | 3 |
| Jarrod Bowen | 13 | 4 |
| Chris Wood | 12 | 10 |
| Stats via FotMob | ||
It’s not just Forest that have suffered as a result of his carelessness in front of goal, Wood has too, with his market value taking a nosedive in recent weeks.
Chris Wood’s market value in 2024
Over a year on from his £15m move to the City Ground, Wood has seen his value drop to just £1.8m, as per Football Transfers – a drop of over £13m, a staggering amount.
His subsequent drop sees him be valued below goalkeeper Turner who’s still valued at £3.9m despite his lack of form and game time in recent months.
The team should try to unload Wood in the summer and replace him with a forward who can help the team advance farther up the Premier League table the following season, given his declining worth and recent performance.
His present contract expires in 2025, therefore the Reds’ only chance to sell and recover as much of the outrageous £15 million asking price as they can is this summer, when a potential split with Wood has been suggested.
