Former midfielder Guy Moussi says it is important Nottingham Forest focus on signing the right characters, rather than “going crazy” in the January transfer window.
The Reds have yet to make any additions this month, but head coach Sabri Lamouchi is eager to strengthen his attack, in particular, to maintain a promotion push in the second half of the season.
Forest sit fifth in the Championship table ahead of this weekend’s clash with Luton Town, and Moussi says the club must be wary of disrupting a strong team spirit when they are considering potential targets.
“What’s good so far is we’ve not gone crazy in the January transfer window,” said the ex-Red.
“The most important thing is bringing in the right players.
“Players that come to the club have to understand what club it is they are coming to - the history, the fact it’s a family club. They have to come with a low ego and be prepared to fight for the team.
“The players here don’t care where new players have come from, whether they’ve come from the Premier League or not; when they come here, they have to know they’re coming to a good group of lads and respect the shirt.
“It doesn’t matter where they’ve come from, they have to come here to fight for the same target and
“Nobody has to think they are bigger than the club or bigger than the players already here.
“The most important thing is team spirit. That’s the main thing for the team.
“That’s why it’s important to bring in good additions who can settle into this group of players and help the team to be better.
“You don’t want people to come as individuals, you want someone who will come in and stick to the team and bring the best out of the team.”
Moussi believes head coach Lamouchi has fostered a togetherness in the dressing room, since taking charge in May.
And that is paying dividends on the pitch.
“We’ve got a group of players who are all fighting and are all together. You can see the team spirit,” said the 34-year-old.
“The important thing is not to bring in 10 new players and disrupt that. Just bring in a few additions - two, three or four, max.
“We just need a few players who can help make a difference.
“You don’t want a big group of players. And you don’t want to break the togetherness which is already there.
“We’re halfway through the season and the players that are there have done a great job.
“Now we need to build on this job they have done.
“We just need two or three additions for that.
“We want players who can help us be better home and away but not disrupt the dressing room.
“I think we’re better at getting the right additions now, not just signing six or seven players. We’re more aware of the way to work in the Championship.
“There’s no need to panic.
“We don’t need to bring in that many new additions. We just need to focus on two or three players to be able to help us out.”
Bringing in a striker is the priority for Forest, but Moussi would also like to see a winger recruited, to help create more goalscoring opportunities.
“For me, I do believe we need more pace in the wide areas. That’s something we could look at,” he said.
“Lewis Grabban is doing really well and we do need some more attacking options.
“But we also have to be able to find the right balance, so that we are still solid defensively.
“We can’t go too much attacking and not defend properly.
“Some people will say some players are not scoring enough or creating enough, but they’re working like heck to be able to defend properly. We have some good attacking players who are helping out defensively.
“We need to find the right balance to score goals and focus on the attacking side a bit more, but not lose that defensive solidity.”
