Dourekas 'misses' Forest amid exciting Neom move
Neom have experienced options such as winger Said Benrahma (pictured) and midfielder Abdoulaye Doucoure, alongside young overseas players and Saudi talent
- Published
Former Nottingham Forest director of football Kyriakos Dourekas says he "misses" working with owner Evangelos Marinakis despite making what he calls an "exciting" move to Saudi club Neom.
Dourekas joined Forest in 2018 from Olympiacos – also owned by Marinakis – and spent five years at the City Ground. He helped oversee Forest's return to the Premier League in 2022 after a 23-year absence from the top flight.
Now at Neom, Dourekas reflected on his time working under Marinakis.
"When Mr Marinakis wants something, it will happen, believe me," he told BBC Sport. "His ambition is so big. Whenever he has something in his mind, and it's his target, it will be done.
"A great man, entrepreneur and leader. When I went there, I believed we could bring Nottingham Forest to the Premier League because I knew I had him as a leader."
Dourekas said he felt the club's past glories – including their European Cup wins in 1979 and 1980 – had held back progress.
"We were a little too much in the past. Players coming in didn't feel important, so we had a motto with Marinakis: 'We respect the past, but we create the future.' We wanted to create a Premier League future."
He described a "collective" approach to recruitment involving Marinakis, his son Miltiadis, the data department and then director Ross Wilson.
However, the opportunity to help build a team at Neom – a club being created for the ambitious Saudi Arabian mega‑project in the desert – was one he felt he had to take in July 2024.
"I went to Marinakis and said I had an exciting new proposal. It was my sixth year and he had a strong staff in place.
"We are building Neom as a club from the ground up. We only have one pitch – no buildings or infrastructure at all. Everything is built to help not just now, but to last.
"We are building an academy, have the youngest team in the league and hope other clubs will follow our belief in developing Saudi players."
Listen to the full episode on BBC Radio Nottingham/BBC Sounds
Subscribe to the Shut Up And Show More Football podcast on BBC Sounds