Nuno Espírito Santo breaks silence on Nottingham Forest links to Matheus Cunha and Yoane Wissa

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Nottingham Forest look set to play a significant role in the January transfer window narrative as deadline day approaches, with Matheus Cunha and Yoane Wissa continuing to dominate the headlines.

It has become clear that Evangelos Marinakis wants a new striker for his side in January after Santiago Gimenez rejected Forest in the summer

The linked names have been incredibly varied but the two that have stuck have both been Premier League standouts in Wolves’ Matheus Cunha and Yoane Wissa of Brentford.

Wissa was linked to Forest before Cunha was but Brentford rejected a £22m bid for Wissa from Forest on Tuesday.

Clearly looking for an alternative to Wissa, the Brazilian Cunha’s name began to be mentioned in the press with his contract situation at Wolves becoming complicated.

Forest look set to submit a club record bid for Cunha which will undoubtedly excite Espirito Santo, who has remained tight-lipped on the situation in a recent press conference.

• READ MORE: Meet Matheus Cunha: Wolves’ dynamic talisman linked with a move to Nottingham Forest

Nuno Espirito Santo coy on Matheus Cunha and Yoane Wissa links

As Espirito Santo spoke ahead of Nottingham Forest’s difficult trip to face Bournemouth on Saturday, the attention expectedly turned to matters off the field.

When asked about Wissa in relation to prioritising a new striker above other positions, the Forest manager said: “It’s not easy to find players that can improve us [Forest] because our players are working very, very well.”

The media weren’t ready to give up on the transfer stories, though, given the ongoing updates regarding Forest’s links with Cunha.

However, Espirito Santo wouldn’t take the bait, saying: “I don’t know anything about that, how can I comment about that! I’m so sorry to disappoint you.”

There’s no doubt that Espirito Santo will be working closely with Marinakis to decide which of the two would excel the most at the City Ground, with the pair’s statistical performances for their respective clubs highlighting that their strengths are contrasting.

• READ MORE: Who is Yoane Wissa? The 12-goal Brentford ace who Nottingham Forest are chasing in January

Matheus Cunha and Yoane Wissa have contrasting strengths

Looking to compliment Chris Wood, the choice between Cunha and Wissa can be boiled down to how much of a contrast the Forest coaching staff are looking for compared to their star striker.

Looking at the data, Wissa is a more reliable goal threat with an xG that is nearly treble the size of Cunha’s but the Brazilian creates one chance more than Wissa per 90 minutes.

Cunha also dominates in the dribbling department, completing 2.07 dribbles to Wissa’s 0.42, a stat that Wood also doesn’t excel in with only 0.15 dribbles per game.

Both Cunha and Wissa possess greater passing abilities than the Kiwi international, so the debate between the two will come down to whether the more reliable goalscoring ability of Wissa outweighs the greater creative spark that Cunha offers.

It seems as though the Forest owner is willing to spend the money to aid Forest’s European charge in January so either one of Cunha and Wissa could be welcomed to the City Ground this month.