Felipe has explained to Nottinghamshire Live that there were tears of joy when he got the call to say that Nottingham Forest wanted to sign him. The 33-year-old signed a permanent deal from Atletico Madrid, penning an 18-month contract in January.
The centre-back was on the bench on Sunday as the Reds defeated Leeds 1-0 at the City Ground. He will have had a chance to soak in the atmosphere on Trentside and the tough-tackling performer will hope to get back on the pitch soon.
Felipe signed for Atletico in 2019 and has won a La Liga title with Los Rojiblancos. Now, he’s signed for Forest for a small fee of under £2 million and his experience could be vital in the Premier League.
It sounds as though his decision to sign for the club was an easy one. Felipe became good friends with Renan Lodi when he was playing for Atletico Madrid and as a result, he jumped at the chance of a reunion.
He told Nottinghamshire Live: “As soon as the offer came about, my wife called Renan’s wife and there were tears of joy; tears of joy with a new experience and we would be back together again like we were previously.”
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It’s quite interesting that Forest appear to be signing players to help other members of the squad settle. Lodi and Felipe played at Atletico, Jesse Lingard and Dean Henderson played together at Manchester United, whilst Lewis O’Brien and Harry Toffolo joined from Huddersfield.
Furthermore, the Reds also signed Gustavo Scarpa and Danilo from Palmeiras. The pair struck up quite a partnership in Brazil last year, helping the club win the league title at a canter. Clearly, this is a strategy that is paying dividends for Forest.
The Reds will hope that the Brazilian contingent can gem quickly. It would appear the four players have been spending lots of time together in and out of the club and that can only bode well for the team spirit within the ranks on Trentside.