Nottingham Forest forced into action as Arsenal make bid for former Premier League flop

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Nottingham Forest’s transfer business is being hampered by the uncertainty of their Champions League qualification chances, giving rival teams like Arsenal the head start on targets.

Nuno Espirito Santo’s side have already been assessing targets, but not with much success, as top defensive target Federico Gatti rejected a move to Forest.

Sticking with Juventus, Forest are closely monitoring Douglas Luiz ahead of a summer move, but the biggest area for improvement in the Forest squad will be further forward.

Evangelos Marinakis is desperate to sign a striker at the end of the season, but goalscoring contributions can come from other areas, including from one talent who Arsenal have looked to steal a march on Forest to sign.

Arsenal ‘extensively’ look at Sporting ace Francisco Trincao

At the start of April, On the Minute reported that Forest have shown interest in Sporting’s 15-assist star, Francisco Trincao, but would face competition from the likes of Arsenal and Manchester United to secure a deal.

However, it seems that Arsenal have moved ahead in this race as, according to the front page of Portuguese newspaper Record (as relayed by Metro), the Gunners have made advances on the attacker.

The report said that Arsenal were “one of three Premier League clubs” to begin talks over Trincao, but Mikel Arteta’s side are set apart in the race as “Arsenal have scouted Trincao extensively” this season.

The Reds’ current attacking options are not firing, with Taiwo Awoniyi slammed by Forest fans for what he offered in the Brentford defeat, so a creative threat such as Trincao could be perfect for Forest. Although his previous spell in the Premier League didn’t quite go to plan.

Francisco Trincao has an unwanted Premier League past

With nine goals and 15 assists for the Portuguese giants this season, it’s hard to believe that Trincao is the same player who had a quiet spell at Wolves in the Premier League.

Annoyingly enough, though, one of these three goals came to the detriment of Forest, in a forgettable Carabao Cup night at the City Ground.

Trincao scored Wolves’ third in a 4-0 demolition of the Reds, who were still in the Championship at the time, awaiting the magic of Steve Cooper to catapult them into playoff glory.

Not the worst memory for Forest fans, then, who have at least seen first hand what Trincao could offer, should Marinakis be able to match or even outbid Arsenal in the pursuit of the Portuguese star.