Football
Exclusive: Sean Dyche Plots Dwight McNeil Reunion in Bid to Rescue Nottingham Forest
New Nottingham Forest manager Sean Dyche is keen on signing former Burnley winger Dwight McNeil from Everton to boost the struggling team's fortunes. Dyche aims to reunite McNeil with striker Chris Wood, hoping to replicate their successful partnership from their time at Burnley.
Bradford City v Everton U21 - Vertu Trophy by George Wood | Getty Images
New Nottingham Forest boss Sean Dyche is desperate to be reunited with winger Dwight McNeil as he looks to turn around the club’s miserable fortunes at the City Ground, SportsBoom can exclusively reveal.
Dyche won the race to become Forest’s new boss earlier this week, beating former Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini to replace Ange Postecoglou at the managerial helm.
Aussie coach Postecoglou was sacked after just 39 games in charge having been previously hailed as the club’s savour.
And former Burnley and Everton boss Dyche is determined not to suffer the same fate as his counterpart and become Forest’s third managerial casualty this season before he has even had a chance to real get started.
McNeil was a star performer for Dyche at Burnley, a club where he twice won promotion to the Premier League and managed 425 games across a decade at the club.
SHOCK RAID
The former Manchester United youth ace is currently signed to Everton on a five-year deal, but Dyche is already plotting a shock raid for the 25-year-old when the transfer window opens in January despite having just short of two years left on his contract.
McNeil left the Clarets for a £20million fee in July 2022, but he has scored only 15 goals across 103 appearances on Merseyside.
This season McNeil has not started a Premier League fixture for the Toffees and has played just 23 minutes in the top-flight, twice being used as a late substitute.
He has started twice in the English League Cup and once in the Football League Trophy, but he has so far been surplus to requirements in the Premier League under boss David Moyes.
WOOD PARTNERSHIP
Dyche will get the chance to work with striker Chris Wood again at Forest, the New Zealand international he managed at Turf Moor.
Experienced hitman Wood bagged an impressive 20 goals in 36 Premier League games last season in his best season in front of goal for years.
And the 33-year-old marksman has already scored twice in the top-flight this season, one of the few positive moments of Forest’s worrying season so far.
Dyche hopes to re-unite McNeil and Wood, with the pair having played together at Turf Moor and struck up a strong partnership.
Neil has been a journalist for longer than he'd care to remember, having written for national newspapers and respected publications for over 25 years. For the last three years he has worked freelance for BBC Sport, working on the production desk as a sub-editor and also as a writer, covering a whole range of sports.