Nottingham Forest are interested in signing Pervis Estupinan from Villarreal, according to Bola VIP. Tottenham, Lyon and Nice have all been credited with an interest in the 24-year-old too.
Estupinan signed for Villarreal in 2020 from Watford. He’s 73 appearances for the La Liga outfit; helping them win the Europa League and reach the semi-finals of the Champions League.
During 2021/22 the player made 40 appearances, claiming two assists. For Villarreal, he operated as a left-back but his qualities make him suited to the wing-back role also.
Estupinan spent four years on the books at Watford but failed to make a single appearance due to work permit issues. He was sent out on loan on four occasions to Grenada, Almeria, Mallorca and Osasuna.
Now, it’s thought that those issues that prevented him from playing for the Hornets are resolved. He’s now a full international and has made 26 appearances for Ecuador.
Estupinan isn’t short of suitors. As a result, signing him won’t come easily to Forest and besides, they could be prepared to move on given the events of the last 24 hours.
It seems as though the Reds are set to sign Harry Toffolo. It was claimed yesterday that the deal was in doubt but hours later the Huddersfield man made a dramatic u-turn.
That does leave Forest with Omar Richards and Toffolo to compete for the left-back spot. Alex Moreno is another name mentioned, with the Real Betis man also on the radar.
Forest interested in Estupinan and he might prove useful
This would be an interesting one. Not least because of the clubs that are also linked, with Tottenham firmly in the race to sign him.
Estupinan is an international defender and that’s not to be sniffed at. Forest do have a couple of left-backs but if one of those was to get injured, they’d look for one more.
The £19,000-a-week Estupinan is likely to be allowed to leave this summer. Villarreal boss Unai Emery wants to reshape his squad the Ecuadorian could be one player on his unwanted list.
It’s not clear what the player would cost. At 24, he’s at a good age and certainly ticks a lot of the boxes for what Forest are looking for when they sign players these days.
Rumour rating: 7/10 – Considering he’d be signing from Villarreal with 40 appearances to his name from last season this one isn’t to be sniffed at.
Although Forest might look to strengthen other areas of their team first, another left-back isn’t completely out of the question.
As a result, there could be legs in this rumour and it’s one that we quite fancy the club completing this summer.
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