Nottingham Forest tried desperately to sign a central midfielder on Transfer Deadline Day but couldn’t get anything over the line.
The Reds let Douglas Luiz leave the football club earlier in the transfer window and that led to a flurry of bids for midfielders ahead of the window closing.
Arne Engels was subject of three Forest bids but the Reds couldn’t prise him away from Celtic with the Hoops unable to sign a replacement in time.
Forest also looked at Sydie Peck from Sheffield United and as the window closes, it’s emerged that the club made another bid which was also rejected.
Photo by Olaf Kraak / ANP / AFP via Getty ImagesNottingham Forest failed to sign Kodai Sano
According to ESPN, Forest made an offer of £20 million to sign Kodai Sano on Transfer Deadline Day but NEC Nijmegen rejected the advances.
The Japanese star man was the subject of intense interest from Ajax but they were also denied the chance to sign him with the Eredivisie outfit standing firm.
Sano has scored three goals and registered four assists from 22 appearances this season and it’s likely more interest will come in the summer window.
The player has been with Nijmegen since 2023 when he checked in from Japanese outfit Fagiano Okayama and with his current club he’s made his debut for Japan.
Forest didn’t manage to get any further midfield reinforcements into the squad before the deadline and now Sean Dyche will have to work with the players he’s got.
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Forest midfield options could become stretched
The Reds would have liked another midfielder to sign on Deadline Day but the fact that the club haven’t got one isn’t really the end of the world.
Forest have Elliot Anderson, Ibrahim Sangare and Ryan Yates as natural midfield options, with Nicolas Dominguez able to play there and Morgan Gibbs-White also able to drop in.
It’s positive that Forest haven’t overspent on players that weren’t really going to improve the starting eleven and perhaps the midfield ranks will be looked at in the summer.
Dyche will naturally be happy with his squad and hopefully the Reds will have enough to remain in the Premier League this season.
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