Nottingham Forest will be looking to bolster a number of key positions on the pitch over the summer transfer window after securing another season in the Premier League.
The Garibaldi Reds finished four points clear of the relegation zone following a strong climax to their rollercoaster campaign in the top flight and Steve Cooper will surely be wishing for a more comfortable and less stressful season when Premier League football resumes in August.
In terms of the squad members released, Nottingham Forest have parted company with André Ayew, Cafú, Jack Colback, Jesse Lingard, Jordan Smith and Lyle Taylor upon the expiration of their contracts, and have also let go of six youth players too.
One player who still has one year remaining at the City Ground, but an uncertain future is mainstay Steve Cook, who is one of the few players remaining at the club that was part of the Championship play-off winning first team who secured promotion.
The 32-year-old defender had his game-time limited over the second half of last season due to the arrival of Felipe on Deadline Day in January and now could find himself even further down the pecking order.
Forest were linked with a move for Stuttgart star Konstantinos Mavropanos last week and there is no doubt that the talented centre-back could comfortably compete for a spot in the back-line next season.
According to Greek news outlet Sportime, the Tricky Trees made a ?10m (£7m) bid for the player, but Stuttgart are holding out for ?15m (£13m) this summer.
Mavropanos is no stranger to English football following a four-year stint at Arsenal, but was never given the opportunity to get a fair crack at Premier League football during his time in North London - tallying up just eight appearances in the senior team.
After spending two seasons on loan with Stuttgart, the Greek defender parted ways with Arsenal once and for all last summer when he signed a permanent deal with the Bundesliga club and has thrived ever since.
The right-footed sensation - once hailed "fearless" by Ian Wright - ranks in the top 5% of his positional peers across the top five European leagues for shots on goal, shot-creating actions, successful take-ons, touches and interceptions, as well as ranking in the top 10% for progressive carries and aerial duels won over the last 12 months, as per FBref.
In fact, Mavropanos ranked first for interceptions won in the entire Bundesliga last season, second for clearances completed and third for dribblers tackled percentage over the 2022/23, demonstrating his dominance in the German top tier.
When comparing the 25-year-old's output to his positional peer at Nottingham Forest, he has comfortably outperformed Felipe in a number of key attributes including pass completion (83% v 76%), tackles and interceptions won (113 v 81), ball recoveries (183 v 124) and aerial duels won (70.4% v 61.7%).
With that being said, Mavropanos would not only be a worthy successor for Cook but could also be an upgrade on Felipe in the defensive set up next season for Nottingham Forest and for £13m it would be an absolute steal.