Joris Gnagnon was a transfer target for Nottingham Forest in the summer of 2019 but Sabri Lamouchi’s inability to land him now looks like a lucky escape.
The former incumbent tried extremely hard to sign the enforcer when he first arrived at Forest. He has worked with the Frenchman during his time managing Rennes.
The uncompromising defender, then of the Ligue 1 outfit, secured a move to Sevilla in 2018. He spent a year on loan at Rennes but then headed back to the La Liga outfit.
His time with the Spanish outfit has been nothing short of a nightmare. He has made 17 appearances and this week he’s actually been released from his contract.
Gnagnon has been sacked by the club with Julien Lopetegui citing a lack of professionalism, according to Goal.
The centre-back actually cost Sevilla £11.5 million when they signed him. This season, however, he wasn’t registered to be part of the squad and has now been released from his contract.
At just 24, the former France under-21 international is in limbo. He typically operates as a centre-back, although he can operate as a makeshift left-back.
Leaving a club in such fashion is bound to make teams sceptical over picking him up. Given his potential and previous valuation, however, perhaps he won’t be a free agent for long.
Lucky escape: Forest got away with potentially disastrous deal for Gnagnon
Lamouchi wasn’t sure who would form his defensive partnership when he arrived at Forest. Michael Dawson was at the club, with Alex Milosevic, Tobias Figueiredo and Yohan Benalouane also vying for a place. Joe Worrall had also returned from a loan at Rangers.
With that in mind, it was perhaps understandable that he wanted a new defender. Gnagnon could have been that player, with Lamouchi suggesting to the club he should be signed.
Thankfully, the club thought otherwise. Gnagnon headed back to Rennes on loan and has now been binned off by Sevilla.
Forest strengthened their defence recently with Scott McKenna and he’s largely been magnificent for the Reds.
As a result, Forest can count their lucky stars that Lamouchi failed to land Gnagnon.