Nottingham Forest made 22 signings over the summer in a bid to improve and strengthen their squad following their promotion back into the Premier League after 23 years out of the top flight.

No resource was wasted in the newly-promoted club's efforts and ambition to maintain their top-flight status over the season ahead and despite the criticism, nobody can deny the ambition the powers at The City Ground have shown during the summer transfer window with a number of high profile players signed.

Jesse Lingard, Renan Lodi, Morgan Gibbs-White and Emmanuel Dennis are just some of the signings that attracted a lot of attention over the transfer window, but it's not just the signings they secured that hit the headlines with Fabrizio Romano revealing the extent of the high-quality talent Evangelos Marinakis was planning to sign.

The Italian journalist and transfer insider revealed that Forest had made contact and enquired about the potential signing of out-of-contract superstar Paulo Dybala before he signed for Jose Mourinho's AS Roma this summer.

Taking to his Here We Go podcast last month, Romano claimed: “Nottingham Forest also did a call for Paulo Dybala on a free.

“Yes, they tried! If you remember at one point, Dybala was Inter but not closed, Roma but not agreed, Napoli but no agreement, so there were many possibilities and they tried to explore this possibility, saying ‘okay, what’s the situation with Dybala?’. This shows the ambition of Nottingham Forest, but in the end it was impossible. It was just a call and not a negotiation.”

The Argentine striker who was dubbed "extraordinary" by Stefano Sorrentino has tallied up 149 goals and 66 assists over his career so far, and is already proving that he is a formidable attacking threat this season for the Italian club who signed him in July.

Dybala has scored four times and delivered two assists in just eight appearances with a goal contribution every 101 minutes, as well as ranking second for the most clearances, fifth for key passes and sixth for chance creation in the entire Serie A this season so far.

There is no doubt that Marinakis and Cooper will both feel like they missed out on a huge opportunity as the player is estimated to be now worth £30m, especially with Forest currently struggling to find their identity in the top flight, currently sitting in a lowly 19th after four consecutive defeats.

With that being said, although it would have been considered a long shot for the Tricky Trees, the ambition shown by the club is unmatched and they will be hoping that their efforts delivered will be enough to keep them ticking in the Premier League for seasons to come.