Nottingham Forest were left stunned when Anderlecht goalkeeper Hendrik van Crombrugge snubbed a move to the City Ground.
We covered just a couple of days ago that Van Crombrugge had snubbed a move to Forest, but no reason was given.
The Sun’s Alan Nixon now claims that Forest were ‘stunned’ when Van Crombrugge decided to stay no.
It’s stated that Forest agreed a £1.5million deal to bring Van Crombrugge to the City Ground.
However, Van Crombrugge turned down the move for ‘family reasons’ having discussed the switch with those close to him.
That may mean that the Belgian is now off the Forest radar ‘completely’ and he may seek a move elsewhere in Europe this summer.
This just adds another strange layer to the recent friction between Forest and Anderlecht.
The Belgian side were chasing a late move for Forest left back Harry Toffolo but they claim the deal was ‘suddenly blocked’ at the last minute.
Reports in Belgium suggest that Anderlecht are taking the case to FIFA as they think they have a deal done.
Toffolo has now been included in Forest’s 25-man Premier League squad though, meaning it’s unlikely we see him head to Belgium.
Maybe this was going to be something of an exchange with Toffolo heading to Anderlecht and Van Crombrugge coming in the other direction.
Yet when Van Crombrugge said no, it’s reasonable to suggest that Forest could have pulled the plug on the Toffolo deal.
That’s just guesswork on what is a strange saga, but Forest decision makers shouldn’t lose too much sleep over Van Crombrugge.
The 29-year-old has been a regular in Belgium with Eupen and Anderlecht but his snub meant Forest were able to sign a superstar in Keylor Navas.
The Costa Rican is a marquee addition for Forest and Van Crombrugge will now see out the season with Anderlecht before possibly moving on – although we don’t expect his next destination to be Forest.