New Nottingham Forest development will leave Leeds United and Burnley with a sense of what-if? | OneFootball

The latest Chris Wood development will leave Burnley and Leeds United wondering what-if?

Nottingham Forest have made a storming start to the new Premier League season. A major contributing factor to this has been their unlikely hero, Chris Wood, who has been in fine form for the Reds.

The experienced attacker seems to be having a late bloom in his career. After joining Newcastle United from relegation rivals Burnley in January 2022 in a bid to stay up, he failed to hit the ground running in the North East, scoring four times in 35 appearances for the Magpies. With a takeover by the Saudi Public Investment Fund also completed around that time, more new signings saw Wood fall out of favour with Eddie Howe. This opened the door for a move to the City Ground, which has been an enormous success.

After being linked with a return to his former employers, Leeds United, before he joined Forest, both the Whites and his other former club, Burnley, will be left wondering what-if, thanks to the striker's emphatic form. Surely, if Wood was with either club, his goals would have them in the Premier League rather than fighting for promotion in the Championship.

Wood tipped for a new contract at Nottingham Forest

Wood has scored 7 goals in 9 Premier League appearances

There has been plenty of speculation about whether the New Zealand international's future lies in Nottingham. After escaping relegation to the Championship by the skin of their teeth, Football Insider reported that the 32-year-old could've quit the Reds if they suffered relegation. Thanks to his 14 league goals, Nuno Espírito Santo's side did beat the drop, which saw the Kiwi stay put at the City Ground.

With a goal record as good as Wood's, he would likely have plenty of potential suitors from top-flight clubs in England and Europe. Fortunately, retaining the ex-Burnley man has proven to be a big boost for Nuno's men, as the forward has netted seven goals in nine Premier League appearances so far this season.

After a solid transfer window, where the likes of former Newcastle teammate Elliot Anderson joined the club, the former European champions are flying, sitting in an impressive seventh place early on. Many people tipped Forest to struggle again this season, but it seems like Nuno is proving his doubters wrong.

Crucially, their star striker is out of contract in June 2025, leaving Forest vulnerable if Wood wanted to explore a pre-contract agreement with foreign clubs in January.

However, the Midlands club are confident in tying the attacker down to a brand-new two-and-a-half-year deal, according to a report from the Telegraph. There is willingness from both parties to get a deal done, with Wood reportedly happy at Forest and keen to remain at the club.

The 2016/17 season was the year that English football stood up and took notice of Wood. Whilst Leeds failed to gain promotion to the Premier League, the New Zealand international netted 27 goals in 44 Championship appearances. This saw a flood of interest come from clubs higher up the pyramid, looking to prize the prolific poacher away from Elland Road.

Sean Dyche's Burnley were the lucky ones, landing the Kiwi's signature for a reported £15 million. After several solid seasons in the top flight with the Clarets, he was poached by Newcastle in January 2022 for £10 million more than what Burnley had initially paid for him. After he found himself out of favour a year later, the striker was allowed to depart St James' Park, having basically done a job of keeping Newcastle up and relegating Burnley.

Leeds were mired in a relegation battle and in desperate need of a striker to bring them the goals they were craving. The manager at the time, Jesse Marsch, was keen to sign a forward due to Patrick Bamford's injury and the inconsistency of Rodrigo. This saw a loan enquiry from the Yorkshire-based club, as they looked to bring their former 27-goal hero back to Elland Road.

However, Marsch eventually landed French forward Georginio Rutter instead for a club-record £36 million, which allowed Wood to head off to the City Ground for the next chapter of his career. It was the Forest man who would have the last laugh though, as his side beat the drop, whilst Leeds succumbed to relegation. His loan deal was then made permanent.

Whilst Rutter did eventually come good for United, he was nowhere near the numbers Wood was racking up, which makes you wonder if things could have turned out differently for the Whites, had they signed the Newcastle man instead.

Former employers will be wondering what-if?

Leeds and Burnley surely looking on with envy

Hindsight is a wonderful thing. There are always plenty of ifs, buts, and maybes in football, with there being plenty of alternative outcomes which could've happened had events gone differently. For Leeds and Burnley, this is one of those cases. While they didn't have a crystal ball to look into, to foresee Wood's current form, there would, of course, be some people wondering what-if the Kiwi had remained with the Clarets or rejoined Leeds in 2023.

With both teams outside the top flight currently, they will be looking up at Wood's brilliance and thinking that he could've been doing that for their club. As mentioned, Leeds by no means made the wrong decision by signing Rutter rather than Wood, as he was sold to Brighton for a profit, but you'd think the latter's contributions could've been the difference between relegation and survival, as he's shown during his time in Nottingham.

Burnley have returned to the Premier League since Wood's departure and were subsequently relegated straight back to the Championship. With Forest being the team directly above the dotted line, taking the striker's 14 goals out of the Reds and putting them into the Clarets could've been the difference that swung the pendulum in Burnley's favour.

Leeds were forced into a fire-sale of some of their most valuable players this summer. Archie Gray, Crysencio Summerville, and Rutter were all shipped off to prevent sanctions, having failed to gain promotion in 2023/24. Again, in hindsight, had Wood returned to Elland Road and kept them in the top flight, this might not have been a necessity.

Whilst neither club is struggling in the Championship, you can't help but feel there will certainly be some supporters looking up at Nottingham Forest's current situation and thinking that it could've been them in that position, had things panned out differently.