Nottingham Forest are exploring a number of deals this summer transfer window.
Yoane Wissa is high on Nottingham Forest’s shortlist and a bid has gone in for the 19-goal Brentford striker.
Nuno Espirito Santo tried to land Wissa’s signature in January, however, a deal could not be agreed with the Bees.
Abdoulaye Doucoure is also on Forest’s radar after announcing that he will be leaving Everton on a free transfer.
It’s just surfaced that Forest are in talks to sign Alexis Saelemaekers, too, and there’s a fascinating story involving him and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Nottingham Forest target Alexis Saelemaekers was forced to sell his Porsche by Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Nottingham Forest have been tracking Saelemaekers for the last 12 months and it’s understood that Espirito Santo has made him a top target.
The 25-year-old has just enjoyed a productive season on loan at Roma, but has now returned to his parent club AC Milan.
Saelemaekers has been under contract at the San Siro since 2020 and has played with some of Europe’s best players, including Ibrahimovic.
The Forest target actually had a little bust-up with the Swedish star when he first joined, as Asmir Begovic shares the details in a talkSPORT interview.
“It was the funniest thing, he (Ibrahimovic) liked to keep the young players in their place,” Begovic revealed.
“One of the young lads (Saelemaekers) was signed on loan with a view to a permanent deal, he came from Belgium.
“First couple of days he was nice and quiet and then about a week or two later, he came to training with a new Porsche.
“And Zlatan, the first thing that he did was grab the keys and said, ‘Listen, you’re going to take this car straight back to the dealership. If you’re not going to do it, I’m going to do it for you.’
“So he made him return his car and get a little bit more of a normal car and make him earn his stripes, that was quite funny.”
Saelemaekers has certainly earned his stripes since then
Saelemaekers is now a much more mature player and has certainly earned his stripes since then, especially in the last 12 months.
The Belgian winger has become a regular for his nation and his stock has risen dramatically with Roma, having registered 14 goal involvements last term.
Milan have slapped a £21m price tag on Saelemaekers, which is a very feasible fee for the cash-rich Tricky Trees.
Newcastle United have also been keeping tabs on his situation.
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