Nottingham Forest 2024-25: Salaries, Owner, History & Rivalry

You might know them as the club that pulled off one of football’s greatest European fairy tales, but Nottingham Forest F.C. in 2024-25 is a different beast entirely. With a billionaire owner, a wage bill pushing £55 million, and a squad fighting to stay in the Premier League, the Reds are a club of stark contrasts.

Club: Nottingham Forest F.C. · Founded: 1865 · Stadium: City Ground (capacity 30,332) · Current Manager: Nuno Espírito Santo · League: Premier League

The key facts below draw from club records and financial analysts.

Who is the highest paid Forest player?

Top earners at Nottingham Forest in 2024-25

• Nikola Milenković – £5.46M/year (£105k/week) per Capology
• Jesse Lingard – formerly reported at £150k/week; not listed among current top earners on Capology
• Chris Wood – top scorer in 2023-24, wage details not publicly confirmed

Six players, one pattern: the gap between the highest earner and the rest is narrowing. Nikola Milenković tops the list at £105,000 per week, but only a handful of teammates clear £80,000.

Here is how the top earners compare by estimated weekly wage.

Jesse Lingard’s reported wages

Lingard arrived in 2022 on a free transfer with reported weekly wages of £150,000, making him the club’s highest-paid player at the time. Capology, however, does not list him among the top five earners for the 2024-25 season, suggesting his contract may have been renegotiated or that the estimate applies to his previous deal.

Comparison with other Premier League clubs

Forest’s total wage bill of £167 million in 2023-24 (The Swiss Ramble) ranks near the bottom of the Premier League. For context, Manchester City’s wage bill was roughly £400 million.

The implication: Forest are paying top dollar for a few players while keeping the overall structure lean, a tightrope walk for a club needing to stay up.

Is Nottingham Forest owner a billionaire?

Evangelos Marinakis: net worth background

• Forbes estimated his net worth at $3.1 billion in 2025, derived from shipping, oil, and media interests.
• He became majority shareholder of Nottingham Forest in May 2017 (The Swiss Ramble).
• His stake is 80%; the remaining 20% is held by associate Sokratis Kominakis (same source).

Verification of billionaire status

The $3.1 billion figure makes Marinakis a billionaire by Forbes’ standard, but his wealth is concentrated in privately held assets not easily liquidated. Other estimates are lower, and the opacity of his shipping empire means the exact number is uncertain.

What this means: Forest likely have an owner who can cover losses but not at the level of a sovereign wealth fund.

Has Nottingham Forest ever won the Champions League?

Historic European Cup victories

• 1979 – Beat Malmö FF 1-0 in Munich (UEFA)
• 1980 – Beat Hamburg 1-0 in Madrid (same source)
• No English club has won back-to-back European Cups since then.

Brian Clough’s role in the triumphs

Manager Brian Clough, with assistant Peter Taylor, built a team that defied the odds. Clough’s Forest had won the First Division in 1977-78 and then conquered Europe twice. UEFA notes that Forest “remain one of only a handful of clubs to have won the European Cup back-to-back.”

Subsequent Champions League participation

Forest have not qualified for the modern Champions League (post-1992). Their last appearance in the top European competition was the 1995-96 UEFA Cup (now Europa League).

The catch: Forest’s European legacy is frozen in the late 1970s. For a club of their stature, that’s both a badge of honor and a reminder of how far they’ve fallen.

What is Nottingham Forest’s biggest rivalry?

The East Midlands Derby

• Primary rival: Derby County (English Football League)
• Known as the East Midlands derby, first played in 1892.
• Geographic proximity (14 miles) and historical competition fuel the animosity.

Lesser rivalries

Leicester City and Sheffield United are secondary rivalries, but neither has the intensity of the Derby County fixture. Forest and Derby have not played each other since 2021 due to different league tiers.

Why this matters: The absence of the derby from the fixture list has left a cultural gap for fans — but a potential promotion or relegation could rekindle it.

How much does Jesse Lingard earn at Nottingham Forest?

Jesse Lingard’s contract details

Lingard signed a one-year deal in July 2022 with an option for a second. Reports from early 2023 suggested wages of £150,000 per week, making him the club’s top earner at the time. Capology now lists Nikola Milenković as the highest-paid player for 2024-25, with Lingard not appearing in the top five — a sign that his contract may have expired or been restructured.

Comparison with his previous Manchester United wages

At Manchester United, Lingard earned roughly £75,000 per week, meaning his Forest contract represented a significant raise. However, his playing time has decreased, making the salary a notable financial commitment.

Impact on the club’s payroll

Even at £150,000/week, Lingard’s wages would account for about 10% of Forest’s total fixed salary estimate of £1.06M/week (Capology). That’s a hefty slice for a player who started only seven league games in 2023-24.

The trade-off: High wages for a marquee signing can lift the club’s profile but risk distorting the pay structure if performance doesn’t match.

Timeline of Nottingham Forest

The major milestones in Forest’s history span from the Victorian era to the modern Premier League.

The pattern: Forest’s greatest achievements cluster around the Clough era, with the modern period defined by survival rather than silverware.

What we know and what’s uncertain

• Club founding year: 1865 (confirmed, English Football League)
• European Cup titles: 2 (1979, 1980) (confirmed, UEFA)
• Owner: Evangelos Marinakis (confirmed, Forbes)
• Main rivalry: Derby County (confirmed, English Football League)

Uncertain or disputed:

• Exact weekly wages of individual players (estimates differ across Capology, AiScore, Salary Sport)
• Net worth of owner (Forbes estimate vs. other assessments)
• Jesse Lingard’s current contract details after 2023-24

What this means for fans: the core facts about the club’s history and ownership are solid, but salary figures and net worth estimates should be treated as indicative rather than definitive.

“Nottingham Forest’s wages increased only slightly from £166m to £167m in 2024/25.”

— The Swiss Ramble (independent football finance analyst)

“Nottingham Forest are among the few English clubs to have won the European Cup back-to-back.”

— UEFA (European football governing body)

The data tells a story of a club balancing history with survival. Forest’s two European Cups are a legacy few can match, but the current reality is a £79 million loss and a wage bill that needs careful management. For owner Evangelos Marinakis, the choice is clear: invest smartly to stay in the Premier League, or risk the kind of financial drift that once kept Forest out of the top flight for 23 years.

Frequently asked questions