Nottingham Forest manager Mark Warburton has made the club's latest signing of the summer as midfielder Liam Bridcutt joined the club from Championship rivals Leeds United for an undisclosed fee, reported to be around £1 million.
The Reds will now be looking to secure a few further additions in this transfer window to ensure they experience a far better season than last year as they just managed to avoid relegation to League One on the final day.
A position where competition was needed
Warburton had been looking to add an experienced defensive midfielder to his squad all summer and has now finally got his man. Bridcutt was actually Leeds' captain last season and played majority of games under manager Garry Monk as the Whites agonisingly missed out on a place in the play-off places. However, he had not been fancied by new manager Thomas Christiansen in the early stages of this season.
The 28-year-old even has experience of playing in the Premier League from his time at Sunderland and will now be hoping to pass on his knowledge and expertise to the Forest's younger players. Warburton does have a lot of young players at his disposal and it was therefore important to add a player with experience who can deal with big moments throughout the season.
Forest did have a lack of options in that area of the pitch with David Vaughan and Chris Cohen being the main players available to Warburton. However, both players are nearing the end of their careers and have had their fair share of injury issues. The arrival of Bridcutt allows the likes of Vaughan to be used more sparingly which is the ideal scenario for Warburton.
This signing again highlights the superb work being done by Forest's Director of Football Frank McParland behind the scenes. Bridcutt has joined the club on a three-year deal for a reported fee of around £1 million. In the current market, that is a very reasonable deal for a player who has proved he can perform at this level in the past.
Warburton 'delighted' to get deal over the line
Warburton has managed to secure the services of many new players this summer including the likes of Daryl Murphy, Jason Cummings, Barrie McKay, Tendayi Darikwa, Andreas Bouchalakis, Kieran Dowell and others. All of these have proved to be very useful additions in the early stages of the season and Forest supporters will now be hoping that Bridcutt can have a similar impact at The City Ground.
Warburton told Forest's official site of his delight to finally get the deal over the line. He said: "I am delighted to have captured the services of an experienced Championship performer. He has had technical education through Chelsea and numerous other clubs now, and he is a proven performer at this level. He understands our style of play and we are delighted to welcome him on board."
Bridcutt is unable to make his Forest debut against Newcastle United at St James' Park on Wednesday night so will be looking to force his way into Warburton's starting line-up for the visit of former club Leeds at the weekend.