Transfers from Olympiacos to Nottingham Forest have, historically, not always been a success.
Cafu was a cult figure in the promotion side of 2022 and Andreas Bouchalakis scored two spectacular goals on his debut in 2017. But there have been more misses than hits. Djamel Abdoun will be remembered for scoring a Panenka against West Ham in 2014 — and little else. Panagiotis Tachtsidis signed a two-year deal in September 2018 and had been farmed out on loan by December without playing a minute for Forest.
So there may be scepticism from some Forest fans that the club have Mehdi Taremi leading a shortlist of forwards to pursue this January.
Olympiacos’ Iran international, 33, is not the only name on the shortlist — there is also a keen interest in Jorgen Strand Larsen, the Wolverhampton Wanderers forward. Forest are one of several clubs monitoring Strand Larsen, who would likely carry a price tag of at least £40million.
A strong, imposing forward, the 25-year-old shares many of the physical characteristics of Chris Wood, the New Zealand international who scored 20 goals for Forest last season — but who is sidelined with a persistent knee injury.
Youssef En-Nesyri, a 28-year-old striker who plays for Turkish club Fenerbahce and has been part of Morocco’s national team for almost 10 years, is also on Forest’s list. So too is Artem Dovbyk, Roma’s 28-year-old Ukraine international — although he is facing a spell on the sidelines with a muscle injury.
But it is Taremi who Forest are most keen on as they look to ease some of the pressure on Igor Jesus, who has started the last seven games in all competitions. Taiwo Awoniyi is the only senior back-up after Arnaud Kalimuendo’s loan move to Frankfurt with a view to a permanent move.
Taremi is a vastly experienced striker who joined Greek side Olympiacos from Inter last summer, having helped the Italian club reach last season’s Champions League final. He has made more than 100 appearances for Iran and has a proven scoring record, especially during five years in Portugal, where he averaged better than a goal every two games for Rio Ave and then Porto.
So how do the four targets compare and how would they fit in at Forest?
Taremi is more of a roaming, creative No 9 than the other options, dropping deep and drifting out wide to help progress the play.
Compare his off-ball runs to the other candidates and we can see a much more varied profile, compared to Dovbyk, for example, who is all about running in behind and attacking the box at speed.
The below comparison is from the 2023-24 season, when all four had decent minutes for their clubs.
Taremi still scores well and gets into the box effectively — he racked up 82 league goals across five seasons at Porto. He’s a bit older than the other candidates at 33 but the technical ability is there.
He is not a player who is going to be constantly testing the defence with hard running in behind but a bit more of a maverick centre-forward who will float around and come alive when the ball drops in the box.
At 6ft 2in, he does have physical presence — but he is a player who relies more on his intelligence.
“He is a high-IQ footballer that is smart with the spaces he plays in and is quite astute with how he can distribute the ball,” says Ari Bouloubassis of the Thrylos 7 International Olympiacos podcast. “He’s an excellent finisher and tactically astute, but in the Premier League, you have to have the physical attributes to back it up and that’s the only question mark, due to his age.
“But he has played as a 10, in behind the striker and did not look bad at all. He is versatile. The majority of Olympiacos fans like him… there will be fury if he is allowed to leave.”
Given that Olympiacos and Forest — along with Rio Ave — are part of the Evangelos Marinakis football empire, a deal to sign him could be relatively straightforward, barring any upset to the fans in Greece.
Strand Larsen, the Norway international, would be more expensive but, at 25, would also be an investment for the future. He is a tall striker who is good in the air and a player who is able to generate good chances for himself in the box. Of all of the quartet, he has most in common with Wood. He’s struggled this season at Wolves (as we can see from the shot evolution map below where his shots per 90, xG per shot and shot distance are all down on 2024-25), but usually good at getting into areas and finishing from close range when the service is consistent.
He’s technically very good too — he scored a lovely back heel in the FA Cup against Shrewsbury on Saturday — and is more likely to drop into midfield and get involved with link-up than the others.
Last season, Wood was averaging 0.26 goals per shot and his xG for the season was 13.4 — the fact that he scored 20 goals tells a story of a player who made the most of his opportunities and, last season at least, Strand Larsen also made the most of his chances. His 14 goals came from an xG of 10.3, which represented an overachievement of 3.7 goals.
En-Nesyri’s strength is his aerial ability — which Forest have missed in their forward line in the absence of Wood, even if Jesus is better in the air than his 5ft 10in frame might suggest.
En-Nesyri scored 18 headed goals across his five La Liga seasons with Sevilla, only four players across the top five leagues managed more in that time. He times his runs into the box, but also his leap is impressive — he scored the only goal as Morocco beat Portugal in the 2022 World Cup quarter-finals, after outjumping the Portugal defence to get on the end of a floated cross.
He is tall and springy in his running style and is happy to battle for the ball out in the channels, but more of a player you want to keep around the box so he can attack those loose balls. At Sevilla, around 46 per cent of his La Liga shots came via his head.
Dovbyk’s most recent standout season came in 2023-2024 with Girona, top-scoring in La Liga with 24 goals and eight assists. He has been impacted by injury since moving to Roma — and is carrying a muscle problem now. But he has still scored almost a goal every two games in Serie A.
At his best, he offers a bit of everything — speed, power and aerial ability that would make him that bustling target man that seems to do well under Dyche. But his injury will change the dynamic, if he is to be sidelined for as long as two months.
Forest’s ability to make the right choice in their forward purchase will have a big influence on the rest of their season, as they look to progress in the Europa League and secure Premier League survival.