Tiago Silva

I’m a big fan of the former Feirense midfielder; in fact, he was one of the ten lesser-known Primeira Liga players I said to keep an eye on halfway through last season - and I was very pleased to see him being given this tremendous opportunity to represent a club as historic as Nottingham Forest.

He’s a tenacious and technical midfielder who can operate both in attacking midfield or in a more box-to-box role, and his hard-work and willingness to put a shift in defensively as well as offering clear attacking quality is clear for all to see and should make him more endearing to the Forest fans. Even if he does happen to struggle in the Championship, you should see no lack of commitment from the 26-year old - and you can guarantee that he’ll break up many promising opposition attacks and pick up a fair few yellow cards next season.

But he isn’t, by any means, a defensive player at heart. If anything, his technical ability makes him far more potent at the opposite end of the pitch, his confidence with the ball at his feet and his passing quality making him a great source of creativity, and he could therefore prove effective in both areas of the pitch. He’s also shown himself to be very good at set-piece deliveries, and I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see him take some of Forest’s free-kicks and corners next season.

So he has the determination and talent to succeed in the English Championship; while he may lack height, he makes up for it with his effort, and while Feirense were relegated last season, he certainly didn’t deserve to be - and was one of their standout performers.