Against West Ham United on Saturday, Matz Sels made his third appearance for Nottingham Forest and contributed to the team’s first Premier League clean sheet in 14 games.
The goalkeeper arrived late in the January transfer window, spending £5 million ($6.3 million) from Strasbourg, whose fans were disappointed to see the Belgian go. For Sels, a thirty-one-year-old man, it was a chance to prove himself in the Premier League and advance in his career.
For Forest, it meant that they now had three international goalkeepers in their group: Wayne Hennessey (Wales), Odysseas Vlachodimos (Greece), and Matt Turner (USMNT).
It might have seemed like an odd addition to people who don’t usually watch the team. Individuals who do will have been more sympathetic.
Furthermore, it took Nuno Espirito Santo several weeks after his appointment in late December to change his mind about signing a new goalkeeper. Initially, he believed that Turner and Vlachodimos would be sufficient to carry them through to the end of the season.
What are people’s initial thoughts about Sels? What attributes will he offer the Forest team? And how has his presence altered the chemistry between the goalies at City Ground? Paul Taylor and Matt Pyzdrowski, the goalkeeping guru for The Athletic, examine.
