Just as with getting there in the first place, planning for life in the Premier League was always going to present bumps in the road for Nottingham Forest.
Transfer planning - for any club, in any window, regardless of division - generally involves challenges to be overcome. But the Reds proved adept at negotiating obstacles on the pitch on their way to promotion, and it will be no different off it this summer.
Brice Samba is a fans’ favourite. He has been a key player since arriving at the club in 2019.
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His performance against Sheffield United to send Steve Cooper’s side to Wembley was one of the best goalkeeping displays the City Ground has ever seen. And before that, he had responded in the right way after finding himself out of the team on the back of his red card against Stoke City.
The 28-year-old’s temperament had let him down on that occasion. Ethan Horvath took his chance and held on to the shirt for a spell. But once Samba got the nod following the last international break of the campaign, he seemed to have learnt his lesson.
“We don’t want to talk about negative moments too much, but he obviously had a not great incident in the Stoke game, which we definitely had to talk through,” Cooper has previously said.
“But you live and learn. Hopefully that’s the case. Brice is a calm guy and he is a focused guy, a good guy. And obviously a good keeper as well.”
Losing him would be a huge blow. He was integral to Forest’s rise to the top-flight and more than merits the opportunity to test himself at that level. You’d back him to shine, too.
It is to be hoped his contract situation can be resolved, amid suggestions he has turned down the offer of fresh terms because he deemed them “unacceptable”. Understandably, he wants to feel the part he has played is recognised by the club - he certainly deserves that.
Whatever happens, though, Forest have the right people in place to cope with however this particular story pans out, with recruitment having been very good in the last two windows. All the same, the hope is that’s a route the Reds won’t need to go down when it comes to their goalkeeping options.
