Nottingham Forest named in race to sign £15.1m Wissa alternative alongside AC Milan

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Nuno Espirito Santo’s hunt for a backup striker looks like it’ll drag on towards deadline day, with one option catching the eye of a Champions League regular.

In-form striker Chris Wood scored once more in Forest’s draw against Liverpool on Tuesday, but the 33-year-old very rarely sees the full-time whistle.

Perhaps due to Taiwo Awoniyi’s poor form, Wood is often expected to reach the late stages of every Premier League game which will always come with the concern that he may succumb to injury as a result.

With West Ham interested in Awoniyi, the time seems to have come for Espirito Santo to find a more reliable alternative to Wood to ease the pressure on the Kiwi international.

Forest are interested in Yoane Wissa, an ambitious pursuit that may be difficult as Brentford don’t want to be active in January. This means that Forest may need to turn to another of their striking targets, with one being pursued by one of the historical giants of European football.

AC Milan make approach for MLS goalscorer Petar Musa

A name that arose before any talk of Wissa was FC Dallas star, Petar Musa. Forest made contact over Musa heading into the January window, clearly impressed by his 16 goals for the MLS side last season.

However, Evangelos Marinakis isn’t the only one to have spotted the Croatian’s abilities, as Rudy Galetti has claimed that AC Milan have approached FC Dallas for Musa’s signature.

The tweet also confirms that Musa would be available for around £15.1 million, making him a cost-effective option for both Milan and Forest.

At six foot three, Musa would provide similar strengths to Wood in the Forest squad but when compared to Wissa, it is clear to see that Espirito Santo has a dilemma on his hands as to the type of striker he wants supporting Wood.

Petar Musa and Yoane Wissa offer different strengths

Wood earned praise from Gary Lineker amongst others this season for his 13 Premier League goals so far, meaning that the Forest manager is really looking for someone to freshen up his side when Wood needs a break.

Statistically, Wood, Musa and Wissa all perform very similarly in terms of goalscoring, with Musa having the edge on goals and Wissa having marginally more shots on target.

The first key difference is in the pass accuracy, which Wissa has a strong advantage in so if Espirito Santo wants a more creative threat to support Morgan Gibbs-White up front, Wissa makes sense.

Musa, however, dominates in both the dribbling and duel-winning stats, suggesting that the Croatian could be the best choice if the Forest coaching staff want a striker who can create for himself.

Disregarding the financial aspect, Marinakis and Espirito Santo must first decide on the style of striker that best suits the role, as Musa and Wissa both excel in incomparable ways for their respective sides.