Chris Wood: Profile, Salary, Injury, Net Worth & Latest News

Few things test a Premier League striker like a season spent mostly in the stands. Chris Wood, Nottingham Forest’s New Zealand centre-forward, has just lived through that test — a knee problem that surfaced in October 2025, surgery in December, and 194 days out before he returned to the matchday squad.

Current club: Nottingham Forest · Position: Centre-forward · Date of birth: 7 December 1991 (age 34) · Height: 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) · 2025/26 Premier League: 15 appearances, 3 goals · Contract: until 30 June 2027

Wood’s player dossier is compact: one club since 2023, one contract through 2027, and a profile built for one job — scoring.

Who is Christopher Wood and what is he known for?

The short answer: he’s the striker New Zealand football has leaned on for more than a decade, and the player Nottingham Forest built their attack around after promotion. The long answer starts in Auckland, runs through five English clubs, and ends with a 34-year-old proving he can still lead the line in the Premier League.

Early life and youth career

• Born 7 December 1991 in Auckland, New Zealand
• Began his senior career at West Bromwich Albion in 2009
• Spent loan spells at Millwall, Bristol City and Leeds United before leaving permanently

Wood grew up in New Zealand’s largest city and moved to England as a teenager to join West Brom’s setup. The loan moves served their purpose: he arrived at Burnley as a proven Football League scorer with a reputation for physical, old-school centre-forward play.

Professional journey: from West Brom to Nottingham Forest

West Brom: 2009 debut · Burnley: 2017 (reportedly £15m) · Newcastle: 2022 (reportedly £20m) · Nottingham Forest: since 2023

Wood’s senior path has run through West Bromwich Albion, Leicester City, Burnley, Newcastle United and now Nottingham Forest — a route that gave him more than 200 Premier League appearances and a reputation as one of the league’s most reliable penalty-box presences. In 2024/25 he scored 14 league goals for Forest, his best top-flight return in years.

International career as New Zealand’s record scorer

• New Zealand’s all-time leading scorer with more than 30 goals
• Scored a hat trick for New Zealand against Fiji in a World Cup qualifier
• Has carried the All Whites’ attack through multiple World Cup qualification cycles

He made his senior New Zealand debut in 2009 against Tanzania and has been the first name on the team sheet ever since. For a nation that rarely produces top-flight strikers, Wood isn’t just a player — he’s the standard the next generation measures itself against.

The pattern: Wood has never been the flashiest striker on the pitch — he’s the one the system is built around, at club and country. That’s why Forest committed to him through 2027.

What is Chris Wood’s salary?

Nottingham Forest doesn’t publish player wages, and Wood’s camp doesn’t comment on contracts. The figure that keeps circulating is around £80,000 a week; the only hard number on record is the contract end date.

Reported wages at Nottingham Forest

• Media estimates cluster around £80,000 a week (as of the 2025/26 season)
• The club has never confirmed a wage figure
• Third-party trackers list his market value near €4.5m

A useful reality check: most published salary figures for Premier League players are estimates built from payroll averages and agent chatter, not club payroll data. Wood’s deal runs through the summer of 2027 — that commitment matters more than any weekly number.

Net worth and endorsements

• Estimated net worth: £10–15 million (media estimates, not audited)
• Earnings are almost entirely football-salary driven
• His Premier League career has spanned more than a decade across five clubs

Net worth figures on celebrity-data sites chase each other around the same range — roughly £10m to £15m — but none of it comes from verified financial statements. Treat them as ballpark, not fact.

What Forest paid to get him

• 2017: Burnley paid a reported club-record £15m
• 2022: Newcastle paid a reported £20m
• 2023: Nottingham Forest signed him on loan, then made it permanent

The pattern in those fees: every club bought the same player — a right-footed target man who scores in streaks. Forest paid far less than Newcastle did, and got the most productive version of him.

The trade-off: Forest are paying a specialist finisher on a contract that expires in 2027 — the next two seasons decide whether that bet pays.

Has Chris Wood ever scored a hat trick?

Yes — and the most memorable one came in a Burnley shirt at the end of 2019.

Premier League hat tricks

• December 2019: first Premier League hat trick, against Sheffield United
• That performance remains his career highlight in English football

It was the first Premier League hat trick of his career and the defining moment of a spell when Burnley’s attack ran almost entirely through him.

Hat tricks for New Zealand

• Scored a hat trick against Fiji in a World Cup qualifier
• One of several multi-goal games in an All Whites shirt

International football is where Wood’s finishing has mattered most: he’s the player his country looks for when a result is on the line.

Other notable multi-goal games

• 2023: brace in Nottingham Forest’s 3–2 win over Southampton
• 2024: a brace that drew post-match praise from manager Nuno Espirito Santo

That 2024 performance helped quiet the critics who questioned the signing. It was a reminder that Wood doesn’t need many chances — he needs the right ones.

What this means: Wood scores in bursts, not bunches — exactly what a mid-table Premier League side needs from a centre-forward who gets one or two real chances per game.

Is Chris Wood injured?

As of the latest preseason reports, Wood is fit and back with the group. The injury chapter that defined his 2025/26 season is closed, though the memory of it still shapes every lineup debate.

Current injury status

Injury: knee · Onset: October 2025 · Surgery: December 2025 · Games missed: 23 consecutive · Days out: 194 · Return: 8 April 2026

The details come from the BBC Sport report published when he reappeared in Forest’s squad — the key passage is quoted below. The short version: a six-month layoff, a December operation, and a return to the matchday squad in Porto in early April.

Previous injuries and recovery

• An earlier thigh injury, also sustained on international duty, required surgery
• Hamstring problems limited his playing time in the 2022/23 season

The thigh surgery is a useful reference point: Wood has come back from a similar interruption before, which is one reason the club stayed calm through the latest layoff.

Injury impact on performance

The season-in-numbers section below has the full ledger; the short version is 15 league appearances and 3 goals in 2025/26. The previous season Wood had scored 14 in the league — the contrast defines how much the club missed him.

The implication: availability, not ability, is now the variable that decides whether Wood finishes his Forest career on a high or in the treatment room.

What is the latest news on Chris Wood?

The latest chapter is a comeback, not a transfer saga. Wood’s name reappeared in matchday squads, then on the scoresheet, and the club showed no public interest in selling.

Return to the squad

• 8 April 2026: back in Forest’s matchday squad in Porto
• Preseason: started against Stade Brestois and scored a penalty
• Expected to be available for the following friendly

Two moments defined the return: the squad list in Porto, and the penalty in preseason. Both said the same thing — the layoff was over.

Transfer speculation and contract talks

• Everton rumors in the 2025 summer window were denied by the club
• Reports in 2026 said Forest had no plans to replace him
• Contract security through 30 June 2027 lowers the pressure to sell

The transfer noise around Wood has always been louder than the substance. The club’s actions — a contract through 2027 — say more than any rumor.

Preseason form and the World Cup cycle

A World Cup year turned into a recovery year. Wood’s October 2025 injury came just as New Zealand’s 2026 tournament buildup was intensifying; by the time he was fit, the international window had moved on. RotoWire’s reports caught a thigh scare in warm-up — coach Oliver Glasner called it a precaution — and Wood responded by scoring in the next friendly.

What to watch: whether those preseason minutes become Premier League starts against the league’s physically toughest backlines.

The 2025/26 season in numbers

The season became a medical chart as much as a stat sheet: 15 appearances, 3 goals, and a 194-day gap between competitive starts.

The catch: every number in that table is a reminder that 2025/26 didn’t just test Wood’s knee — it tested Forest’s patience, and the club chose to hold.

Career timeline: from Auckland to a Premier League comeback

Career milestones and the injury layoff each fit on one line; together they explain why Forest see Wood as a bet worth keeping.

Why this matters: the timeline shows a club that kept faith with its striker through a long recovery — and a player who answered by scoring on his return to the starting lineup.

Confirmed facts vs. what’s still unclear

What the reports said

“Wood had been sidelined since October and had knee surgery in December before traveling to Portugal.”

BBC Sport report, April 2026

“An operation was required after scans showed the knee had not improved significantly.”

The Athletic injury explainer

“Coach Oliver Glasner described the thigh issue as a precaution after Wood felt something in warm-up.”

RotoWire injury tracker, quoting coach Oliver Glasner

Wood’s career has always been built on one unglamorous skill: putting the ball in the net from inside the box. The 2025/26 season took that skill away for 194 days, and the season ahead will show whether Forest’s patience was strategy or hope. For Nottingham Forest, the decision is clear: give their 34-year-old striker a healthy run of games and let the numbers speak — or spend the next window hunting for the same profile at twice the price.

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