Nottingham Forest had Cyrus Christie on loan last season and the player is now available on a free transfer. The 28-year-old has been deemed surplus to requirements by Fulham and they aren’t commanding a transfer fee.
Burnley, Bologna and Stoke are keen on signing the full-back. The Clarets have made the deadline day capture of Conor Roberts from Swansea, however, so are unlikely to move.
The Athletic claims that Marco Silva will let Christie leave for free. Any club who does take a chance on the defender, however, will likely need to match his £20,000-a-week wages.
During the 2020/21 campaign, Christie arrived at Forest on loan from the Cottagers. He made 44 appearances for the Reds and improved massively at the turn of the year.
Some of his performances came in for criticism prior to the festive period. Afterwards, he really kicked on though and proved one of Forest’s better players during a pretty drab season.
Now, he faces an anxious wait to see if any club will take a chance on him. If a deal cannot be struck, he will be stuck at Fulham until January at the least.
Christie will be a free agent next summer and boasts bags of experience playing in the Championship for a number of clubs.
Could Forest make a late attempt to sign Christie?
It does seem unlikely. Mohamed Drager is set to sign from Olympiacos, whilst Fin Back and Jayden Richardson are both highly-rated members of the Reds’ academy.
On a free, Hughton may be tempted. CEO Dane Murphy is unlikely to fancy Christie, however, as the player doesn’t really fit within his transfer policy.
On sizeable wages, Forest will likely go with what they have. Jordi Osei-Tutu has also arrived on loan from Arsenal and he has shown his class during the game and a half he’s played for the Reds.
Christie could prove a very decent addition to someone ahead of tonight’s deadline. Martin O’Neill once called him ‘brilliant‘ after a performance for the Republic of Ireland, although Forest doesn’t seem like his likely destination right now.