Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis has earned widespread praise for his ambitious stewardship since taking over the club in 2017, ultimately breaking a 23-year Premier League exile under Steve Cooper in 2022. While Forest’s recruitment strategy has evolved from the frenzied summer of 2022—when they brought in 23 new players—into a much sharper “quality over quantity” model, mistakes are still bound to happen.
Now, Premier League legend Alan Shearer believes Marinakis has made a glaring £30 million error by missing out on a rising star who was essentially sitting right in his own backyard.
The Curious Case of Charalampos Kostoulas
The player at the center of Shearer’s critique is Greek sensation Charalampos Kostoulas. The talented young forward signed for Brighton & Hove Albion in the summer of 2025 in a deal worth approximately £30 million. After an initial adjustment period, Kostoulas has exploded onto the scene in the top flight, bagging two goals in his first five appearances of the season and helping dump Manchester United out of the Carabao Cup.
However, the real controversy lies in Kostoulas’ previous ties. Before making his move to the Premier League, the youngster played for Greek powerhouse Olympiakos—a club also owned by Evangelos Marinakis.
Speaking on The Rest is Football podcast, Shearer expressed utter bewilderment as to how Forest allowed a player of Kostoulas’ caliber to slip through their fingers and land at a direct Premier League rival:
“I’m right in saying… that he was at Olympiakos. So Marinakis owns Olympiakos. And they missed it. And letting him go to Brighton. I mean, how does that work? You know, with Forest and him and what have you, I don’t know. It seems a bit weird that they pay that money for him and allow him to go to Brighton rather than Forest take him. If he’s the owner of Forest, I don’t know.”
Forest’s Alternative Route: Putting Faith in Liam Delap
While missing out on a multi-million-pound asset from a sister club stings in hindsight, Forest have hardly been sitting on their hands when it comes to securing elite attacking talent.
The Reds opted to invest heavily in Liam Delap, splashing £50 million to bring him to the City Ground. Although Delap is older than Kostoulas, he has already opened his goalscoring account for the club, with high expectations that he will spearhead Forest’s forward line for years to come.
It is entirely possible that at the time Kostoulas was moving to England, Forest’s recruitment team felt the teenager wasn’t quite ready to shoulder the immediate physical demands of Premier League survival, or that the squad’s tactical priorities lay elsewhere.
A Costly Oversight?
Even so, watching Kostoulas shine in a Brighton shirt must be a tough pill to swallow for Forest supporters. With his stock rising rapidly with every standout performance, the Seagulls look poised to turn a massive profit if and when they eventually cash in on the young forward.
For Marinakis and Nottingham Forest, it serves as a fascinating reminder of the complexities of managing a multi-club network—and the painful reality of watching a potential superstar thrive just down the road.
Do you think Evangelos Marinakis missed a massive trick by letting Charalampos Kostoulas join Brighton instead of bringing him straight to Nottingham Forest?
