Three days after the closure of the transfer window, 24-year-old Benfica striker Oliveira and Lille winger Mendes, 25, were confirmed as new arrivals on season-long loans for the remainder of the 2015/16 campaign.
Signing players from overseas may represent an additional risk to domestic deals but they also allow supporters to dream that the new arrivals will have the star quality to become City Ground favourites.
With both Oliveira and Mendes we only know the highlights of their careers to date, the caps for Portugal and the appearances in the Champions League. Fans of other clubs cannot barge onto the forums and messageboards to deflate our expectations of what to expect.
And, to be fair to Forest, both players are a good age and do have a good pedigree behind them which hopefully will translate into performances in the Championship.
Oliveira ended last season on loan at Swansea City and played at Euro 2012 for Portugal.
Mendes, meanwhile, has well over 100 appearances in French football to his name so far as well as some Champions League experience and although it dates from early 2013, this article on the FIFA website sheds some more light on the Cape Verde international.