Report: Nottingham Forest put duo up for sale this summer with both players no longer part of Steve Cooper future plans at City Ground
Nottingham Forest will allow promotion-winning duo Sam Surridge and Steve Cook to leave the City Ground this summer. Head coach Steve Cooper is keen to reshuffle his squad and the pair could now leave.
According to The Athletic, the Reds duo have been told they can leave the club this summer. Forest will focus on outgoings more than incomings this time around and the pair are surplus.
In the case of Cook, this doesn’t really come as a surprise. He’s now 32-years-old and was omitted from the 25-man squad by Cooper for the second half of the 2022/23 campaign.
Surridge does perhaps come as a bit of a surprise. He’s a fan favourite at the City Ground and did score eight important goals during the second half of the 2021/22 promotion-winning campaign.
The 24-year-old didn’t feature much during the 2022/23 season, however. He started just once in the Premier League and that came way back on the opening day of the season at Newcastle.
Surridge is a player that fans would have loved to have seen more of. He’s a striker who is a natural-born goalscorer but he’s yet to prove that he can do it in the Premier League on a consistent basis.
Both players will likely have clubs in the Championship vying for their services. The two players did have offers to leave the club in January but they chose to stick it out at the City Ground.
In the sense of Cook, this one was definitely coming. He’s past his best now and is unlikely to force his way into the Forest team on a consistent basis in the Premier League.
Surridge is an interesting one as he could still improve as a player. Had Forest been relegated, he’d likely be the main man leading the Forest attack but he won’t be considered as such in the top-flight.
As a result, he will perhaps drop back into the Championship too. Whether that is on loan or in a permanent deal remains to be seen but it’s clear that the Reds want them both to depart.
This is merely a sign of the times in the Premier League. Both Cook and Surridge have done a job at the City Ground but now it looks as though their careers lie away from Forest.
