Nottingham Forest failed to kick start their first season back in the Premier League since 1998-99 with a positive result when they were dispatched 2-0 by Newcastle at St.James’ Park last weekend.
Steve Cooper’s outfit has drawn plenty of attention to itself this summer after Forest signed a whopping twelve players during the transfer window, including deals for Taiwo Awoniyi (Union Berlin), Neco Williams (Liverpool), Orel Mangala (VfB Stuttgart), Moussa Niakhaté (1.FSV Mainz 05), Giulian Biacone (Troyes), Chris Richards (Bayern Munich), and a free transfer for former Manchester United midfielder Jesse Lingard.
All told, Forest has splashed just £80m while adding considerable depth into the squad and upgrades into the preferred XI, but according to the Daily Mail, the club is after three more additions before the start of this weekend.
Nottingham Forest aiming to complete deals for another three players by the end of today https://t.co/I7s4NlK2xV
— Mail Sport (@MailSport) August 11, 2022
The latest report from Simon Jones has credited Forest with a serious push for Watford’s Emmanuel Dennis, Atalanta Bergamo’s Remo Freuler, and free signing Cheikhou Kouyaté who left Crystal Palace this summer after his contract wound down at Selhurst Park.
Dennis would add a credible partner alongside Awoniyi and would see the first Nigerian strike partnership in the history of the Premier League, with Jones reporting that Forest has already tabled a £20 million bid for the former Club Brugge striker who was one of the few standout performers in Watford’s doomed Premier League campaign last season.
Forest has also been in discussions with Atalanta over 30-year-old Swiss international midfield orchestrator Remo Freuler, who is said to only cost somewhere in the region of £7.6million should terms be struck between both clubs and the player, who has been a key figure in Bergamo for six seasons.
All told, should all three deals be concluded by the end of this evening if not tomorrow, it would take the club’s spending to £108m and gift Cooper with an almost entirely brand new starting XI to tackle the season with.
For the club’s sake, and Coopers, avoiding relegation must be the only priority if they are to repeat the mistake of other promoted outfits in the past few years the likes of Norwich and Fulham.
Possible starting XI should all deals go through
