Nottingham Forest sent a scout to watch Osman Bukari in Champions League action last night. He played as Crvena Zvezda lost 3-2 to Manchester City to bow out of European competition.
It wasn’t the first time that Forest have watched Bukari. They were also in attendance as his team lost 3-1 to the Citizens at the Etihad Stadium back in September.
Bukari signed for his current club in 2022 from Gent. He’s also turned out for Nantes, AS Trencin and came through the youth ranks with Anderlecht in Belgium.
The player has made a sound start to the campaign during 2023/24. He has scored seven goals and registered five assists and now clubs are starting to show an interest.
Forest scout Bukari against Manchester City
According to reports, Forest were in attendance to take a look at Bukari last night. The Reds aren’t alone in trying to sign him though with MLS outfit LA Galaxy and Spartak Moscow showing interest.
Premier League football is likely to have a significant pull, however. Bukari will hope to emulate several Ghanaian players who have come to the Premier League and made an impact.
The report also claims that it will take around £8.5 million to sign Bukari in January. Zvezda paid just a couple of million when they signed him and they hope to make a significant profit.
Bukari enjoys decent Champions League outing
According to Who Scored, the player made three key passes against Manchester City last night. He also finished the game with a pass success ratio of 76.9%.
The statistics website shows that he also made two successful crosses and attempted to long balls during his 90 minutes on the pitch for Zvezda.
It’s fair to say that Forest need a winger and Bukari fits the bill. Anthony Elanga and Callum Hudson-Odoi are two options in the squad right now but fitness doubts have been raised about the latter.
With Steve Cooper wanting to play a system that deploys wingers, Forest are short. As a result, signing Bukari makes perfect sense from the head coach’s point of view.
Rumour rating: 7/10 – The player perhaps has to prove himself in a top European league but he does have a reasonable amount of experience.
The 25-year-old is at a nice age to improve and given that he can play as a winger or a striker, he could prove an ideal addition to the squad.
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