Nottingham Forest have now burst into the race to sign a midfield star, with Evangelos Marinakis tabling a £24m offer.
The Tricky Trees are yet to get their business underway, but it looks as though it could be a busy summer ahead on all fronts. They’ll certainly have the budget to spend big if Manchester City match the English record fee that they’re demanding for Elliot Anderson. How they’d spend that fee remains to be seen, however.
Nottingham Forest make contact to sign Elliot Anderson replacement amid Man City talks
They face competition for the midfielder.
Marinakis is in a stubborn mood when it comes to selling the midfielder. He’s already rejected City’s verbal proposal of £105m with add-ons to reach over the £120m mark and instead wants a British record guaranteed.
Should those at the Etihad match that price, then Forest could enter the market for themselves. Recent reports have claimed that they’re interested in the likes of Arne Engels at Celtic, who could help replace Anderson, as well as Brazil defender Leo Pereira.
Midfield is likely to take the priority in the event of departures and it could take more than one player to replace Anderson’s quality, leading Forest towards an unexpected Arsenal star this summer.
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Nottingham Forest launch bid to sign Arsenal player
As reported by Fussball Transfers’ Dominik Schneider, Nottingham Forest have launched a €28m (£24m) offer to sign Fabio Vieira from Arsenal this summer. The midfielder has spent the season on loan at Hamburger and whilst they’re still keen to turn their deal permanent, interest from the City Ground complicates things.
The 26-year-old is set to make a decision regarding his immediate future shortly and that could result in a move back to the Premier League and to the Midlands for the first time.
“Fabio sometimes makes decisions that are a huge improvement on the instructions that we the coaching staff give him. He’s brilliant when it comes to taking risks. I’m delighted for every minute we have with him.” – HSV manager Merlin Polzin
Vieira is certainly rated highly after his Bundesliga campaign with HSV. He ended the season with seven goals and six assists, dragging the club to safety and earning impressive interest from Nottingham Forest.
The ball is now in Arsenal’s court, as they deliberate whether to accept Forest’s offer ahead of next season.
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He looks set to be on the move this summer.
