Nottingham Forest have been in fine form this season and the club are reaping the rewards of a positive recruitment drive during the summer transfer window.
The Reds have been impressive – particularly away from home – and Chris Wood is the man of the moment again with four goals so far this season.
Wood scored 15 goals in all competitions during 2023/24 to help Forest in the quest to remain in the Premier League for another season.
After his goal last weekend against Chelsea, Wood received praise from Ally McCoist and the 32-year-old is very much the primary striker at the City Ground.
It does feel as though the club are in the market for a new striker, however. Santiago Gimenez was the number one target for Forest in the summer but he opted to stay at Feyenoord.
Forest have Wood and Taiwo Awoniyi scrapping it out to play in attack for Nuno Espirito Santo and it would appear that there are still efforts being made to add more firepower to the squad.
Nottingham Forest want Santiago Castro
According to Caught Offside, the Reds are one of a host of Premier League clubs keen to make an offer to sign Castro during the transfer window.
It doesn’t appear as though signing him will be easy to do though, with Arsenal, Chelsea, Aston Villa and Everton all monitoring the player.
Castro moved to Bologna during the January transfer window and was a bit of a bit-part player during last season, making just six outings in the second half of the campaign.
During 2024/25, he’s been regular in the starting eleven, bagging three goals in nine appearances for the Serie A side and also featuring in the Champions League.
It’s not really clear how much Bologna would want to recoup for Castro but as a 20-year-old currently plying his trade in a top European league, it’s unlikely to be a cheap transfer.
How Santiago Castro compares to Chris Wood
In truth, Wood is vastly more experienced and has scored more goals and has a better rate of shots on target than Castro.
However, Squawka provides some real evidence that Castro is probably a different option to that of Wood and even Awoniyi.
Castro has played the same amount of games as Wood this season and has won 21 ground duels compared to the eight won by the Forest man.
That is definitely positive as if Forest do land a striker in the near future, it needs to be someone who can provide something a little bit different to what is currently available.
Castro is clearly a talented youngster and after trying to lower the average age of the squad in the summer, perhaps he’s a player who fits in with the current profile of what the Reds are looking for.
Receive a digest of our best Nottingham Forest content each week direct to your mailbox
