“Things didn’t go as I’d planned” – Player suggests Nottingham Forest ruined his PL dream

Odysseas Vlachodimos says he joined Nottingham Forest to fulfil his Premier League dream.

Towards the end of August 2023, Nottingham Forest invested around €4.9m to sign him from Benfica.

The goalkeeper arrived at the City Ground, after spending five years at the Portuguese club.

He played 225 matches, keeping 94 clean sheets and conceding 217 goals, and won two titles with Benfica.

Later that year, the Greece international said he made the right decision to leave Lisbon for the Reds.

At that time, he said: “I think it was the right timing, also for me, to make the next step. And I think the next step is the Premier League.

“When I got the offer, it was also like clear to me. I wanted to do that next step. I wanted to be in the best league in the world. And I also feel like I gave a lot to Benfica and I think it was the right timing to go.”

Stopper angry at Nottingham Forest

Fast forward to April and Odysseas Vlachodimos has been speaking to Greece’s Athletiko to discuss several topics.

Monday’s edition of O Jogo relays the 31-year-old’s comments on his decision to leave Benfica for Nottingham Forest.

“After five years at Benfica, I wanted to take on a new challenge, and the Premier League is every kid’s dream,” he said.

“That opportunity came up; other interested teams had emerged before, but the transfer didn’t happen. Things didn’t go as I’d planned, but that helped me become the goalkeeper I am now at Sevilla.

“The contract renewal [last at Benfica] came seven months late; it was supposed to have happened after I didn’t leave [the previous year].

“However, [Benfica president] Rui Costa knew that if something came up from England, I’d want to leave.”

Stopper’s Nottingham Forest stats

Steve Cooper was manager when the goalkeeper joined the Premier League side.

Odysseas Vlachodimos played 660 minutes from seven matches for Nottingham Forest and five were under Cooper in the league. He conceded 16 goals and kept only one clean sheet.

Nuno Espírito Santo replaced Cooper in December 2023 and didn’t consider the stopper in the Premier League. In fact, he left him out of the squad for the last 14 league matches.

The Reds sold him to Newcastle United in July 2024, and he struggled for minutes at St James’ Park.

Therefore, the Magpies let him join Sevilla on a season-long loan deal in August 2025. That transfer has worked out very well, but the Spanish club can’t afford a permanent deal.