Nottingham Forest rival Manchester United for ‘amazing’ £40m-rated star, Simeone also keen

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Nottingham Forest lost 2-1 to Aston Villa on Saturday evening as a five-game winning run in all competitions came crashing to a halt.

Forest lost this game in the space of two first-half minutes.

First, Morgan Rogers caught Morato napping to open the scoring, whilst just two minutes later Donyell Malan tapped home to ensure a perfect start to proceedings for the hosts.

Nuno Espirito Santo was left fuming with his team’s first-half display, but a second-half Jota Silva goal did at least bring respect to the score line and highlight an improved performance after the interval by Forest.

It won’t be long before Forest will start to look at the transfer market and it would appear as though a shortlist is busy being assembled behind the scenes by the powers that be.

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Nottingham Forest add Jean-Philippe Mateta to transfer shortlist

According to Team Talk, the Reds have joined Manchester United in targeting Mateta ahead of the summer transfer window.

The striker is already on the shortlist at a host of Premier League clubs and now Forest are keen to get their name in the mix for the striker.

Mateta scored his 16th goal of the season in a 2-1 win over Brighton on Saturday but unless Palace go and win the FA Cup, it feels unlikely they will be in Europe next season.

As a result, the Eagles could be at the mercy of other clubs and Atletico Madrid are also showing interest from overseas.

The report claims that Forest have asked for information about the striker with a marquee name likely to be added should the Reds make the Champions League next season.

The 27-year-old might cost in the region of £40 million and that sort of money shouldn’t prove problematic for the Reds, provided they secure a place among the continent’s elite next season.

What Oliver Glasner said about Jean-Philippe Mateta

Losing Mateta would be a hammer blow for Palace given that he’s their main goalscoring threat and he’d take some serious replacing.

After a 2-0 win over Manchester United in February, Mateta was praised by Glasner following his emphatic performance.

He said: “We don’t always talk because he knows what we demand of him. With his two goals today, he is amazing in the box.”

Forest could do with a striker who isn’t too dissimilar to Chris Wood when it comes to being a focal point and Mateta would tick a lot of boxes.

Signing him won’t come easily given the quality of clubs in the mix to land him but hopefully, Champions League football can swing things in Forest’s favour.