Nottingham Forest's recruitment has come under scrutiny as Steve Cooper's side battle to retain their Premier League status.
The Reds have made a total of 29 signings in the past two transfer windows, but those new additions have had mixed success on the pitch. Sporting director Filippo Giraldi paid the price for a poor January by being given the boot last week, while recruitment chiefs George Syrianos and Andy Scott were sacked in October.
It is not the first time Forest can be accused of not getting it right in the transfer market. They have made plenty of bizarre swoops in recent years, and we've taken a look at 10 of the strangest signings of the last decade.
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10. Abdoulaye Diallo
The goalkeeper was signed while Sabri Lamouchi was still in charge, in September 2020. He penned a one-year deal when he joined, with the option for a further 12 months beyond that - but it never seemed likely the Reds would take that up.
Injury troubles didn’t help, although he was described as struggling to catch a cold by one observer. And while he did turn out for the Under-23s, he never got on the pitch for the first-team. The closest he came was being named on the substitutes’ bench for a 2-0 defeat at home to Norwich City - the only time he was included in a match squad.
9. Rafik Djebbour
Algerian striker Rafik Djebbour joined Forest for 1.5m euros back in January 2014. He arrived at the City Ground boasting an outrageous record for Olympiacos, having scored 39 goals in just 56 Greek Super League games.
And he even announced himself to Reds fans with a debut goal against newly-promoted Yeovil Town. However, there were question marks against his effort in training and the striker's contract was subsequently terminated in the summer of 2014, six months after he signed.
8. Kyle Ebecilio
Young Dutch talent Kyle Ebecilio looked an exciting prospect when he arrived in Nottingham. An ex-Arsenal youth star, who came close to breaking through under Arsene Wenger, he had made headlines in the Eredivise for FC Twente as a teenager before joining the Reds on a season-long loan.
But after just five first-team appearances, few of which were positive, a serious hamstring injury ended his Forest carer prematurely. Upon his return to FC Twente, the midfielder was diagnosed with Guillan Barre Syndrome - an extremely rare disease in which the body's immune system attacks the nervous system.
7. Thomas Lam
Lam couldn’t make up his mind as to whether he was a defender or an attacker during his spell Trentside. The Finland international started his time with the Reds by scoring twice in his first two games.
That proved to be pretty much the high point. He ended up going on loan to FC Twente, before joining PEC Zwolle 12 months after he had put pen to paper with Forest.
6. Kevin Gomis
Kevin Gomis joined the Reds on loan from Nice in 2014 but most Forest fans never got the chance to see him play. His lone appearance came in a 1-0 defeat away at Barnsley's Oakwell, and the 25-year-old even picked up a booking for good measure.
Gomis featured more regularly for Ligue 1 Nice upon his return, but in 2016 made the free transfer to Scotland with Dundee. After just a season north of the border he was released.
5. Joao Teixeira
The young Portuguese midfielder arrived at the City Ground on loan with plenty of first-team experience under his belt with Benfica, Vitoria and Wolves. But his opportunities to pull on the famous Garibaldi shirt were limited to Under-23 games only.
4. Djamel Abdoun
Another ex-Olympiacos player who didn't exactly make much of an impact Trentside. The winger arrived at the City Ground with plenty of expectation. He had turned out on 11 occasions for Algeria, including at the 2010 World Cup, and boasted Paris Saint Germain (in youth football) and Manchester City on his CV, but failed to impress during his 22 league appearances for Forest.
3. Khaled Al Rashidi
Another player who arrived with next to no knowledge of the league he was stepping in to. The Kuwaiti goalkeeper went one less than Gomis, though, never getting to pull on the jersey for the Reds.
He did have some tough competition ahead of him at the time, with Karl Darlow and Dorus de Vries both in the squad, while injury problems also did not help. But was it really worth the trouble Forest went through to get him a work permit?
The approval finally came in January 2013, and though Al Rashidi provided unused back-up towards the end of that season, he was out the exit door just a year later. Headed back to ply his trade in Kuwait.
2. Lica
The Portuguese man featured just seven times after signing from Porto in a deal worth about £300,000, with Reds fans hopeful that they had signed the next big thing. The international winger had boasted an impressive goalscoring tally from out wide but did nothing on Trentside.
He headed to Granada after his contract was cancelled. But he struggled to do much better there, with just two games under his belt
1. Nicklas Bendtner
The Dane arrived amid much fanfare, and a whole lot of interest in his homeland. But he failed to live up to expectations.
Bendtner had plenty of promise as a youngster, having made over 100 appearances for Arsene Wenger's Arsenal before turning 21. After loans at Sunderland, Juventus and a permanent move to Wolfsburg, he wound up at the City Ground with a point to prove.
Yet, during his 17 appearances in the Garibaldi, he scored only twice for Forest. His stay on the banks of the Trent proved to be a short and unsuccessful one.
Who is Forest's strangest signing of the past 10 years? Have your say in the comments below
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