Nottingham Forest have brought in former Watford chief scout Filippo Giraldi as their new sporting director.

The 48-year old Italian, who also served as Watford’s technical director for three years, has come in as part of management reshuffle at Forest.

Giraldi will be given the task of auditing the current structure and evaluating the roles of staff as owner Evangelos Marinakis looks to get the best out of his club and investment.

Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis (right) is keen to reshuffle management at the club following a poor start to the season with the appointment of Filippo Giraldi (left)

Forest announced the deal on their website with a statement reading: 

'We are delighted to announce the appointment of Filippo Giraldi as Sporting Director.

'Giraldi joins The Reds following nine years with Watford, originally as Chief Scout before becoming Technical Director in 2014.

'His time at the Hornets saw them enjoy five consecutive years in the top-flight from 2015, including achieving their highest points total in the Premier League during the 2018-19 season, as well as reaching the 2019 FA Cup Final.

'Giraldi previously enjoyed 11 years in Italy as Director of Football at AC Prato and as Chief Scout and Head of Academy at Brescia, with a number of players from both academies going on to enjoy careers in Serie A, as well as appearing for the Italy national team.'

Giraldi joined Watford from Brescia when the Pozzi family bought the Vicarage Road club in 2012 and was key in identifying talents such as Etienne Capoue, Abdoulaye Doucoure, Richarlison, Ismaila Sarr and Joao Pedro.

He was chief scout for five years before being elevated to technical director but left Watford in November 2020 after his relationship with Gino Pozzo broke down.

Watford have developed a reputation for having little patience with coaches and a high turnover of staff, which will seem ominous for under fire Steve Cooper, but Marinakis is not keen to follow the same pattern and wants Giraldi to use his experience to assess the situation thoroughly before making decisions.

The futures of chief executive Dane Murphy, head of recruitment George Syrianos and scout Andy Scott are also due to be discussed.

Forest recognise the urgency of improving results and their Premier League standing so are eager to get the optimum levels out of all staff.

Giraldi will be charged with helping to achieve that but more changes are anticipated.

The news though could still come as bad timing to Cooper, whose offer of a new contract was withdrawn by City Ground chiefs following a 4-0 loss at East Midland rivals Leicester that left them bottom of the league on Monday.

Cooper was offered a new contract by the club after guiding them back into the top flight in the summer following a 25-year absence.

But Cooper's position is now on shaky ground as Marinakis has started identifying a potential successor.

Rafa Benitez, the former Liverpool, Chelsea, Newcastle and Everton manager, is among the options for Forest should they pull the trigger.