Manchester City are now plotting a move for Ian Maatsen after Nottingham Forest decided he was too expensive. The Citizens are now keen to move for the defender, with just months remaining on his current deal.
According to 90Min, the left-back is now wanted by City as they look towards bolstering their ranks in the future. Given his contract situation, the Citizens might look to move for the player in January.
Forest considered the player during the summer transfer window. Instead, they opted to sign Ola Aina and Nuno Tavares instead, with the duo now set to fight it out for a place in the team.
The Reds had reservations over the player’s price tag placed on him by Chelsea. Burnley, where he spent last season on loan, had a bid of £31 million accepted on transfer deadline day but the player opted to stay put.
City now want Forest target Maatsen
Now, he may have made the right decision with the treble-winners now eyeing a move. At 21-years-old, the player has a very high ceiling and Pep Guardiola knows a talented player when he sees one.
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From a Forest perspective, they will probably be out of this race now. The Reds aren’t yet in a position to spend such amounts on a left-back, whilst bigger clubs are clearly interested given his contract situation.
Forest will hope they’ve signed another player with a high ceiling in Tavares. They have signed him on a season-long loan deal and they will have the option to sign him permanently.
Maatsen will feel that he’s ready for the step up to Premier League football after a number of EFL loans. Having played just 26 minutes in the top flight this season, however, it looks unlikely that he’s going to feature much under Mauricio Pochettino.