Forest hero Brice Samba made Adil Rami look like a mug in Lens vs Troyes

Brice Samba was a massive loss to Nottingham Forest this summer.

Across three seasons and more than 100 appearances for the then Championship club, Samba established himself as one of English football’s most underrated goalkeepers seemingly nailed on to make a name for himself in the Premier League.

The Congolese shot-stopper was named in the Championship PFA Team of the Year in his first year at the City Ground and famously saved no less than three penalties to send Forest through to the play-off final last season.

As such, fans were absolutely gutted when Samba turned down the chance to sign a new deal at the club this summer and instead opted for a return to French football with Lens.

And while, yes, Forest have managed to replace him rather shrewdly with the loan signing of Manchester United‘s Dean Henderson, fans will nevertheless be watching Samba’s form in France and wondering: what could have been?

Because, to say that Samba has made a strong start to life back in Ligue 1 would be the mother of all understatements with Lens shocking the nation by making a legitimate early title charge.

The former Forest shot-stopper has played every single minute of Lens’ remarkable start to the league season, standing between the sticks as Franck Haise’s men have secured five wins, two draws and not lost once.

In fact, when Lens secured their latest win of the season with a 1-0 victory over Troyes courtesy of Kevin Danso’s first-half winner on Friday, it lifted them to top spot in Ligue 1.

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