Nottingham Forest wanted Roberto Gagliardini on transfer deadline day but the player opted to stay at Inter Milan. According to Calciomercato, the 28-year-old made the decision to stick around for a few months and then leave for free.
Gagliardini was heavily linked with a move to Forest. The Reds received the bad news in the days leading up to the transfer deadline and targeted Jonjo Shelvey instead.
The 28-year-old has found regular first-team football hard to come by at the San Siro. He’s made 15 appearances this season but just five of those have come in the starting eleven.
It does seem likely that Galiardini will end his association with Inter in the summer. As a result, Forest might have done well to miss out this time, given that he’ll be available for free in a few months.
Gagliardini has been with Inter since 2017. In that time he’s made 176 appearances for the club, scoring 16 goals, whilst he’s also collected seven caps for Italy’s national team.
Forest were keen to add another midfielder to their ranks before the deadline. With Ryan Yates and Cheikhou Kouyate both out injured, Steve Cooper wanted to make sure he was well-stocked.
Forest wanted Gagliardini but they’ve done well to be patient
The Reds appeared to have a strong chance to sign Gagliardini last month. Still, it’s hard to knock him from wanting to stay with Inter whilst they still have a slim chance of winning the Serie A title.
It does seem likely that he will leave in the summer, however. Inter will likely target some stellar recruits and it does appear unlikely that he will receive a new contract offer.
Forest might have been disappointed to miss out on Gagliardini. In the long run, however, they could prove wise to stand their ground and they could land him for free in the summer.
Clearly, the Reds will need to remain in the Premier League. If they do, they could have a real chance of landing the £44,000-a-week midfielder and he’d prove a very useful free transfer.