Nottingham Forest have been handed a big boost in their pursuit of a striker who scored 23 goals last season, with his current club now open to selling him, according to a new report.
Forest will be looking to continue their incredible Premier League season on Sunday when they welcome the top flight's bottom-placed side Southampton to the City Ground.
Nuno Espirito Santo's side, who only narrowly avoided relegation last season, are currently third in the table, having won 12 and lost just four of their 20 games so far. Most recently, they drew 1-1 with league leaders Liverpool, who they also beat earlier in the season.
Ahead of the draw with the Reds, Forest confirmed that goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey has rejoined the club on a deal until the end of the season.
Hennessey, who has won 109 caps for Wales, originally joined in 2022 and went on to make nine appearances before leaving the club at the end of the last season when his contract expired. The 37-year-old, however, has remained active around the training ground while recovering from injury, and has now penned a short-term deal until the end of the campaign.
"Unfortunately Wayne had a serious injury at the end of last season which was a tough moment for everybody inside the training ground," Nuno said in a press conference on Monday. "But he has improved and now he's a big part of us, especially in the goalkeeping community which is a small group.
"He's signed his contract and it's a pleasure to have him around. His knowledge, his experience, the way he goes about his work, it's really good to have him."
Another player who could potentially soon be signing a contract at the City Ground is FC Dallas striker Petar Musa. The Croatia international moved to Major League Soccer outfit Dallas from Benfica in February, and went on to score 17 goals in all competitions for the Toros in the 2024 season. Prior to his move to Texas, Musa had also scored six times for Benfica – meaning he finished the year with 23 goals.
Forest reportedly made contact with Dallas over Musa heading into the January window, and according to renowned reporter Rudy Galetti, the MLS club are now open to selling the 26-year-old ahead of the start of their 2025 season, which kicks off in February.
"FC Dallas are open to evaluating bids," wrote Galetti on X, adding that it would cost any interested party around £15 million to secure his services.
Forest face some serious competition for Musa, however, with Galetti reporting that both Leicester City and Serie A giants AC Milan are also keen on the striker, with the latter having confirmed their interest to Musa's camp.
According to X account TheCroatianLad, Musa recently signaled his desire to return to Europe, saying: "In football, you never know. We’ll see. Of course, one day I’d love to play in one of the big five leagues."
2025-01-18T07:18:36Z