Nottingham Forest failed to adequately replace Elliot Anderson during the summer transfer window, missing out on signing arguably the best option available as he now finds his confidence.

After Nottingham Forest sold Elliot Anderson for a then British record fee of £116m to Manchester City, there was an expectation and demand that Evangelos Marinakis reinvest in the squad and midfield.

But with Oliver Glasner refusing massive transfers as he evaluates the squad ahead of January, the only midfield reinforcement came in the form of Xaver Schlager on a free. Schlager has been decent, particularly in the tackle, as he leads the league, but has been exposed time and time again for his lack of pace.

Forest did try to sign a top-tier replacement in the form of Tijjani Reijnders, ultimately missing out as he moved to Saudi Arabia. Now, that will feel even worse as he has found serious form for the Netherlands.

Tijjani Reijnders scores hat-trick for the Netherlands

Forest tried to sign Reijnders in the summer, along with Lucas Bergvall, as the ideal replacements for Elliot Anderson. Ultimately, neither arrived, for varying reasons, but perhaps the latter could be revisited in January.

Reijnders, however, is off the table, as he joined Saudi side Al-Qadsiah for £55m in the summer, since scoring eight and assisting three in his 10 appearances, demonstrating he is too good to be in that league at 28.

Forest’s pain will have grown over this international break, watching the performance Reijnders put in for the Netherlands against Greece in a 7-0 thrashing for Xavi’s side. Reijnders started in attacking midfield and scored three goals, all from close range as he almost played as a nine in possession.

Reijnders is becoming a goal machine for the Netherlands, and at club level, which is exactly what Forest have needed this season, with the underperformance in expected goals prior to the win over Manchester City.

Reijnders compared with Nottingham Forest’s midfielders

If Forest had signed Reijnders he would have been a clear starter week in, week out. Bringing technical quality, leadership and also goals. Forest need goals, and contributions from midfield, which he would have brought lots of.

Especially when compared to the attacking output the current Forest options offer.

Reijnders clearly offers something very different and would have been a very valuable tool for Glasner this season, even being an option behind the striker next to Morgan Gibbs-White.

With three transfers expected in January, Forest should be looking for someone similar to Reijnders to add to the midfield and take the burden going forward off Gibbs-White and Liam Delap.