John Victor’s Nottingham Forest role revealed ahead of weekend medical

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Nottingham Forest are set to seal the signing of another Botafogo player in goalkeeper John Victor, who is due to arrive in the UK for his medical.

Botafogo has been a fruitful shopping destination for the Reds this summer, first starting with Igor Jesus’ arrival at Forest from the Brazilian side.

Then, after Botafogo had impressed at the Club World Cup, Forest signed Jair Cunha as defensive cover, with both looking promising in their pre-season cameos.

Forest have since turned their attention to higher-profile signings from Europe’s top leagues, but the Reds look to have made their way back to Botafogo by agreeing to sign goalkeeper John.

Nottingham Forest agree John Victor deal with Botafogo

Nuno Espírito Santo has been keen to add a goalkeeper as part of the final touches to his much-improved Forest squad.

Especially since Carlos Miguel departed Forest to return to Brazil, now replaced by 29-year-old John who will look to make more of an impact than Miguel managed.

Outlining his role for the Reds, The Athletic said: “Angus Gunn signed on a free transfer after the end of his contract with Norwich. But it is John who will be brought in as the most senior back-up and competition for [Matz] Sels.”

Clearly, John will be there to fill in should Sels pick up an injury, but if the Belgian remains fit, he may find himself in the same position that Miguel did.

John Victor will hope to avoid being a Carlos Miguel repeat

Miguel made three appearances for Forest, all in cup competitions. In fact, once Forest began to advance in the FA Cup, Nuno reverted to Sels for the cup fixtures, too.

This season, though, there is also the Europa League to contend with, but judging from Espírito Santo’s previous seasons managing in UEFA competitions, John’s chances remain slim.

In the 2019/20 season, Nuno led Wolves to the quarter-final of the Europa League with Portuguese compatriot Rui Patricio between the sticks. Backup to Patricio was John Ruddy, who only managed one appearance in the competition when the number one was absent.

Unless Espírito Santo’s thoughts on back-up goalkeepers have changed, it looks as if John will need to impress in the early rounds of the domestic cups to stand a chance of earning more gametime.