Edu can truly announce himself at Nottingham Forest by matching Everton’s £35m bid for midfield ace

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Edu Gaspar is now at the centre of Nottingham Forest’s recruitment team, in a summer window that hasn’t quite gone to plan yet.

There was excitement when the Brazilian arrived at the club as Edu has a well-documented transfer process that looked set to boost Forest’s push to improve the squad for Europe.

However, it’s not gone to plan so far, shown by Forest making Johan Bakayoko their top target to replace Anthony Elanga before missing out on the winger to RB Leipzig.

With the likelihood of Forest needing to sign a replacement for Morgan Gibbs-White as well, Edu can get his transfer business back on track by rivalling Everton’s move for a midfielder he’s tried to sign before.

Nottingham Forest must rival Everton’s £35m bid for Douglas Luiz

As they did in January, Forest are plotting a move for Douglas Luiz after a disastrous season at Juventus, who he joined on the back of starring for Aston Villa in the Premier League.

Luiz has been made available by Juventus and is seemingly keen on a return to English football, leading to Everton making the first concrete offer for the midfielder.

According to TEAMtalk: “Everton have now submitted a loan bid with an obligation to buy for Luiz.

“The Premier League club are one of the most serious contenders for Luiz and are aiming to close the deal early and beat competition from other Premier League teams.

“Sources have intimated to TEAMtalk that West Ham and Villa are also making concrete moves for the former Man City man, who, of course, really made his name in the game during his spell at Villa Park.”

Luiz was a long-term target for Edu while he worked at Arsenal, but Luiz’s torrid time in Turin has left him more attainable for the likes of Everton and Forest, so a move for him looks to be a no-brainer for the new Global Head of Football.

The transfer makes even more sense given what Juventus are reportedly demanding for the 27-year-old, but Edu must act fast as Everton are extremely close to the required fee.

Everton are close to matching Juventus’ Douglas Luiz demands

Back in April it was suggested that Juventus would demand an obligation to buy in any Luiz deal and this still seems to be the case. According to the report, though, the demands are more than reasonable.

The report said: “The Bianconeri, who were initially open to a €25million (£21.6m) deal for Luiz, now hope to reach a total package of around €35m (£30.2m), including the loan fee and obligation to buy.

“Juventus are flexible to consider a paid loan with a mandatory purchase clause and not only an immediate permanent transfer, and believe that growing interest from the Premier League could help maximise the sale.”

Of course, Everton and Forest could end up pitted against each other in a bidding war that would suit Juventus, but for a player of Luiz’s immense quality, the current fee is surely too tempting to ignore for Edu and his recruitment staff.