Club already having doubts about player they bought from Newcastle for £15m

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Newcastle United sent two players to Nottingham Forest in January, and neither are having a great time at the City Ground.

Jonjo Shelvey joined Steve Cooper’s side on a permanent deal in January, and it was not long before he had a fallout with the Forest manager.

The 31-year-old made eight Premier League appearances for his new club, but was not even in the matchday squad for the final seven games of the season. It has now been reported that he will be allowed to leave Forest this summer.

Shelvey was not the only player to swap Newcastle United for Nottingham Forest in January. Chris Wood made the same move, initially joining on loan with a view to a permanent deal.

The deal quickly did become permanent, with Wood only needing to make three appearances for his new club. That has forced Forest to pay £15million for the New Zealander.

It was a brilliant bit of business by the Magpies, who had paid £25million for him in January 2021. Wood served his purpose at St James’ Park, and his Forest move meant he effectively only cost Newcastle £10million.

Now he is on Forest’s books, but questions are alreay being asked.

Chris Wood’s Nottingham Forest future up in the air

According to the Athletic, Forest are willing to let Shelvey leave this summer. And there are also doubts over Wood. The Athletic state that question marks remain next to the 31-year-old’s name, and that he will need to impress in pre-season after making a ‘poor first impression’.

Joining Forest has not gone to plan for Shelvey or Wood. The former was dropped, while the latter scored one goal in seven games before suffering a season-ending injury.

At least for Wood, it sounds like he has a better chance of salvaging his Forest career than Shelvey. But it will be difficult for the forward, who did not set the world alight at the City Ground.

He did not do that at St James’ Park either, but his performances did allow others to flourish. Whether or not he can do that at Forest remains to be seen.

They probably should persevere, as there is no way they will get their money back if they move him on elsewhere. In Wood, they have got a proven Premier League goalscorer who will thrive if he is confident and you play to his strengths.

That did not really happen at Newcastle, but it still could at Forest. For now, the pressure is on to build on a poor first impression. Otherwise he could follow Shelvey out the door.