Why Pablo Maffeo Is on Nottingham Forest's Wish List

After a crazy few weeks at Nottingham Forest, they are back in the market to bolster their squad once again.

With European football now on the agenda and in need of squad depth plus competition for the thriving Ola Aina, Forest have turned towards Pablo Maffeo to do the trick.

The 28-year-old failed to make the grade at Manchester City, so why are Forest in the hunt for the player that Lionel Messi once described as his toughest man-marker?

Career Story

Having made his debut for Espanyol's reserve team at age 15, Maffeo moved to England at the same age to join Manchester City's academy.

Two years later, he was called up to the first-team for a Premier League match, however he remained as an unused substitute.

His debut finally came in August 2016, as he started in a Champions League play-off tie win against Steaua Bucharest, and his final match came two months later in a 1-0 EFL Cup loss in the Manchester Derby.

The right-back had three spells from 2016 to 2018 on-loan at Girona, his second one helping the club win promotion back to La Liga with 14 appearances.

In the summer of 2018, the Spaniard made a permanent move to VFB Stuttgart seeking regular first-team football, however this neglected him once more.

Maffeo only played eight games in the Bundesliga and once in the DFB Pokal as he failed to even make the squad after recovering from an ankle injury from February onwards.

A loan move back to Girona and later Huesca gave him over 50 more matches under his belt, however his time at the latter failed to impress enough for the club to exercise its permanent deal option.

Finally, he did enough for Mallorca in the 2021/22 season, playing all but three La Liga games, for them to offer him a four-year contract at the end of it; Since then, he has made 87 league appearances as the club finished 10th in 2024/25.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Maffeo is a very aggressive character who loves to put flying tackles in on attackers, which was shown in his public bust-up against Real Madrid and in particular, with Vinicius Junior.

Driven by his love for boxing from a very young age, his passion certainly gives him an edge at the back but some caution does need to be kept in order for him not to get too zealous and pick-up unnecessary suspensions.

Despite this, he excels in attacking phases with overlapping runs and does rate highly for chances created despite his lack of assists down the years.

Pablo Maffeo profiles mainly as a wing back from the data

His box defending isn’t great, but ball winning and duelling is excellent

Also does well for ball carrying and overlapping. Although he doesn’t log many goals and assists he also rates highly for chance creation.

We’ve… pic.twitter.com/RHbeyKAPqs

— Danscape (@danscapephoto) July 17, 2025

However, he can find himself out of position defensively and isn't the strongest man-marker despite his tackling ability - meaning he can be a liability at the back post.

Also, his passing ability isn't the best for a wing-back either, making him much more comfortable when holding width on the touchline rather than inverting into midfield.

How Will He Fit in at Forest?

With Elliot Anderson and Nicolas Dominguez filling in as wingers on the odd-occassion - which might be done more regularly now with Anthony Elanga's departure - they like to invert back into more central areas.

Because of this, Maffeo will be expected to fill the gap out on the wings, which is clearly to his benefit as aforementioned.

Also, his high chance creation from overlapping positions will be crucial in supplying service into the tall figure of Chris Wood, as the New Zealander looks to build on his 20 goals last season, or otherwise the new Brazilian signing Igor Jesus.

Neco Williams will likely have to invert into midfield to make up the numbers in this area as the defensive midfielder, usually Ibrahim Sangare, drops to create a back-three when in possession which will then allow Maffeo to bomb forward.

However, if Nuno decides he wants Maffeo's aggression and strong tackling ability in midfield rather than Williams - who is also stronger in wide areas - then the Spaniard might be forced to invert.

Regardless, he has a strong task on his hands if he is to displace Aina from the starting XI.