A report from Belgium via TEAMtalk claims that Anderlecht goalkeeper Hendrik van Crombrugge turned down the chance to join Nottingham Forest on transfer deadline day.
The plot thickens between Anderlecht and Nottingham Forest. Harry Toffolo is awaiting to discover whether or not he will get ratification from FIFA to complete a loan deal after the deadline. It’s fair to say the Belgians aren’t happy.
Forest did eventually get their goalkeeper with minutes remaining of the transfer window. Keylor Navas checked in on a six-month loan deal from PSG much to the delight of the fan base.
Van Crombrugge is more of an unknown quantity. The goalkeeper is the club captain at Anderlecht, but the struggling Belgian outfit were prepared to let him leave.
It’s perhaps a surprise that the 29-year-old has rejected the advances of Forest. He’s been dropped to the bench for the last six games, having lost his place to Bart Verbruggen.
Nonetheless, he chose to stay in Belgium with Anderlecht. That led Forest to go all in for Navas and will see Van Crombrugge continue his three-year stay at the giants.
The Belgian custodian is a decent goalkeeper and he would have proved a useful addition to the Reds’ squad. He has one cap for the Belgium national team, although he’s not played for them since 2020.
Van Crombrugge has an interest in British football. In July 2021 he told the media that he’d absolutely love to play for Celtic, calling them his favourite club.
Van Crombrugge turned down Forest transfer
This would have been a sensible addition but at the same time, it wouldn’t have been as exciting as Navas. The Costa Rica international has won the Champions League three times and he has raised the excitement levels.
Van Crombrugge has fallen down the pecking order at Anderlecht. It would appear that the club were willing to let him go but he clearly didn’t fancy a move to the City Ground.
Forest have perhaps done the better piece of business here. Navas has been there and seen it all and with Dean Henderson on his way back, Van Crombrugge might not have fancied playing backup in a few weeks time.