The signing Evangelos Marinakis really wants to make in the summer with Nottingham Forest already busy

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Nottingham Forest are looking to pre-plan their approach to the summer transfer window, with one area targeted in particular already.

No news was seemingly good news for Nuno Espirito Santo on transfer deadline day as Evangelos Marinakis prioritised maintaining the Forest squad in January over the signing of new talent.

Whilst Joel Ndala joined Forest along with Tyler Bindon before the window shut, the most important pieces of business in January were seen in the contract negotiations for the Forest squad’s most valuable assets.

Chris Wood signed a new Forest deal after talks went on throughout the month and into December before that, whilst Forest secured Murillo to a new contract to stave off the interest of some of football’s elite clubs for the time being at least.

There may have been no incoming signings at the City Ground, but that didn’t stop the rumours from persisting as Forest reportedly prepared a club-record bid for Matheus Cunha. It later seemed clear that Forest were never close to signing Cunha, but his profile could be revisited in the summer.

Nottingham Forest plan striker search for the summer

Plans move fast in football and it seems that the Forest owner recognises this, with early plans for strengthening Espirito Santo’s side in the summer already drawn up.

According to a report in The Athletic, the success of the January window will now be capitalised on by moving for a striker at the end of the season.

The report said: “Wood has been in outstanding form but is also 33 and, while he may still thrive at this level for a while yet, a bit of long-term planning would not go amiss.

“The perfect scenario for Forest is signing somebody similar to Yoane Wissa at Brentford, who they made an unsuccessful £22million bid for. Signing him seems unlikely, given the price Brentford have. The two clubs were too far apart on value, even if it is something Forest are likely to revisit in the summer.

“But a player of his ilk – somebody who can operate within the attacking three or as the forward within Nuno’s favoured 4-2-3-1 formation – would fit the bill perfectly.”

Given the preference for versatility as mentioned in the report, it seems that a return for Wissa at Brentford would be the early front-runner in terms of an attacking target.

Yoane Wissa fits the required attributes for Nottingham Forest

It has already been reported that Forest will return for Wissa at the earliest given opportunity, with Marinakis already aware of the fee a deal would require as Brentford asked for £40m for Wissa in January.

Wissa’s 13 Premier League goal contributions this season have involved 11 strikes of his own, putting him six goals behind Wood up front for Forest but the Congolese striker often plays as a supporting act for Bryan Mbeumo at the Gtech Community Stadium.

Crucially, Wissa has a history of performing just as well out wide, too, with the Brentford man scoring 13 goals from the left wing when playing for Lorient in France.

Given his partnership with Mbeumo, it is also not out of the realms of possibility that Wissa could play as an almost ‘second-striker’ alongside Wood, dropping into the positions occupied by Morgan Gibbs-White should Espirito Santo require extra guaranteed goal threat in particular scenarios.

If Marinakis does end up preferring a more similar profile to Wood, Forest’s interest in Jean-Philippe Mateta could materialise into an offer, but if the Forest manager wants the added attribute of versatility, Wissa could well be the go-to option.