Nottingham Forest are long-term admirers of Yoane Wissa, with the price required to prise him away from Brentford perhaps lower than fans were expecting.
With Newcastle United not expecting to move for Wissa, it seems as if Forest have a clear run at the 28-year-old forward, who scored 19 Premier League goals last season.
Forest bid for Wissa in January but were not successful in their pursuit. However, with Anthony Elanga sold to Newcastle, the transfer funds are certainly available should Evangelos Marinakis want to finance another attempt to sign Wissa.
Should the club make another move, Nottingham Forest News understands that the price tag would be more reasonable than previously suggested.
Nottingham Forest learn tempting Yoane Wissa valuation
Forest have continued talks with Brentford over Wissa after having a bid rejected in the region of £25m for the Congolese attacker, who prefers to play centrally but can also feature out wide.
David Ornstein reported that Brentford value Wissa in excess of £50m, but Nottingham Forest News, with information from transfer expert Graeme Bailey, understands that the actual price tag could end up being significantly lower.
Our sources understand that a fee for Wissa would be less than £40m, aligning closer to Brentford’s valuation of the 28-year-old back in January.
Wissa might not be a natural replacement for Elanga on the right, but the signing could well unlock some interesting tactical opportunities for Nuno Espírito Santo.
Yoane Wissa could create tactical variation for Nottingham Forest
According to Transfermarkt, Wissa has played 23 times as a right winger in his career, so he’s by no means a wide player by trade, but his intelligence will excite the Forest manager.
Wissa has developed a remarkable relationship with Bryan Mbeumo while at Brentford so his combination play will already be a plus for Forest, alongside the 19 Premier League goals, showing that he can deliver the end product as well.
With Elanga’s exit and Morgan Gibbs-White’s likely move to Tottenham, though, it’s possible that the best way to replace their creativity is through a change in system rather than like-for-like successors.
Especially considering that Forest are prioritising a move for Jacob Ramsey, Espírito Santo could create a system that sees a more creative, technical player like Ramsey and Wissa dovetailing between each other from the right while getting closer to Chris Wood up front.
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