Nottingham Forest eyeing surprise move to bring ‘outstanding’ midfielder back to England

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Nottingham Forest will go in search of some new players this month although quality over quantity will very much be the order of the day.

Evangelos Marinakis is keen to add a striker to the Forest ranks. Nuno Espirito Santo will naturally focus on the football with the Reds currently sitting in third place in the Premier League table.

Taiwo Awoniyi has been linked with West Ham this month. The consensus is that Forest won’t let him leave without a replacement lined up and work is being done behind the scenes.

Forest have been linked with a move for Igor Jesus this month. However, that one might be unlikely given that the club might not feel he’s any better than what is currently in place at the City Ground.

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Nottingham Forest like Gabriel Sara after scouting Galatasaray

The Reds have been on a scouting mission to Turkey in recent weeks. Baris Alper Yilmaz has been a target of Forest’s and the club have sent representatives over to watch him in action.

However, someone else from the Turkish giants has caught the eye. Fanatik claims that former Norwich City star Gabriel Sara impressed the Forest scouts and now he’s emerged on the club’s radar.

Sara only moved to Turkey during the summer. With Norwich failing in their quest to win promotion, the club cashed in on the player with Galatasaray forking out £20 million to sign the central midfielder.

It comes as a bit of a shock that the Reds might look to attract another central midfielder. Still, Douglas Luiz has been linked with Forest and perhaps there is some talks among the recruitment team over a new addition in that area.

David Wagner hailed Gabriel Sara at Norwich

It was a bit of a blow when Sara departed Norwich despite the fact that the Canaries did get a very useful transfer fee for him.

Sara made 95 appearances for Norwich, scoring 21 goals and claiming 17 assists from his usual position as a conventional central midfielder.

Wagner was a massive fan of the midfielder. In February 2024 he called Sara ‘outstanding’ (edp24) for his work rate when called upon and backed him to continue improving as a player.

Sara is only 25-years-old and that makes him a nice age for the sort of signings that Forest have been looking to make.

At this stage, it doesn’t feel like any formal offer is close. However, if Forest go in search of a new midfielder in the future, Sara might be a name that crops up in recruitment meetings.