Houssem Aouar was linked with a move to Nottingham Forest in the summer. This week, however, he’s been forced to react on Twitter to dismiss reports that he’s agreed to sign for Eintracht Frankfurt.
The Lyon star had actually agreed on a deal to sign for Forest. The club had agreed to sign him for a pretty cheap £10 million but the Reds had other ideas for the transfer market.
Evangelos Marinakis sanctioned the signing of Morgan Gibbs-White. Given that he plays in a similar position to Aouar, the club opted not to pursue the player who has made a single appearance for France.
Interest has remained rife in the 24-year-old, however. He’s been heavily linked to Real Betis and this week it was widely reported that the tricky player was set to sign for Frankfurt.
A report by Foot Mercato claimed that Aouar was close to signing a £55,000-a-week deal with Frankfurt. However, the player has taken to Twitter to suggest otherwise.
Aouar took to Twitter immediately after the news had broke. He made a comical comment suggesting that whoever had reported the news knows more than the player himself!
As a result, nobody really knows what is really going on. It does seem as though Aouar will be moving on during the summer, however, given a frustrating season with Lyon.
The player has barely been seen in Ligue 1 during 2022/23 and when he has played he’s hardly been at his best. He’s made just 10 appearances during the campaign
Aouar was linked with Forest and a move to the City Ground now seems unlikely
It does seem as though the ship might have sailed for Forest here. Other Premier League clubs were interested in the summer, with Crystal Palace and Newcastle also showing an interest.
Aouar is clearly a talented player. At 24 he has bags of time on his side and the player can also operate in a number of positions.
Forest will likely go in search of some new players during the summer. Given their problems defensively, however, this season, that could be the order of the day during the next transfer window.
Aouar is a very useful player. It just seems right now that Forest will be well stocked in that particular area of the park and a move to the City Ground now looks unlikely.