Report: Nottingham Forest eye £10m player who wowed Rio Ferdinand but he's played just 67 minutes this season

Yesterday at 04:20 AM

Nottingham Forest are going great guns in the Premier League and the January transfer window will soon be on the horizon.

The Reds are fourth in the Premier League after a 2-1 win over Aston Villa on Saturday evening with 28 points from 16 matches.

It’s a remarkable transformation by Nuno Espirito Santo with Forest winning just nine matches during the whole 2023/24 campaign.

Goals from Nikola Milenkovic and Anthony Elanga ensured that Jhon Duran’s opening goal proved in vain for Villa who remain beneath Forest in the table.

Forest will soon switch their focus to January when the Reds will hope to add a couple of bits of quality to try and maintain this lofty league position.

• READ MORE: Jamie Redknapp suggests Forest have made a brilliant signing this summer

Nottingham Forest want Atalanta defender Ben Godfrey

It’s hard to imagine the Reds wanting too many more players but it would appear that another defender might be on the radar.

Godfrey only moved to Atalanta in the summer from Everton but he’s finding the going a little rough in Serie A.

The 26-year-old has managed a total of 67 minutes of playing time across all competitions and according to The Sun, he’s eyeing the Premier League again.

Atalanta paid £10 million for the player who can play anywhere across the back four, with Everton keen to raise funds for their own recruitment drive.

Forest aren’t the only club keen to sign Godfrey and struggling Wolves are also in the mix to try and land him too.

Godfrey has a couple of England caps to his name but for whatever reason he’s not been able to impress sufficiently with Atalanta.

Rio Ferdinand was a quality defender during his heyday and he called Godfrey ‘outstanding’ back in 2020 following a fine run of form for Everton.

Forest move for Godfrey would make zero sense

The player’s profile does tie in with what Forest tried to do as a club in the summer but it’s hard to imagine Godfrey being any better than what is already at the club.

The defender largely played at right-back for Everton last season but with Ola Aina playing out of skin in that position at present.

Furthermore, Forest have Neco Williams performing well and Alex Moreno also another option to fill the full-back spots in Espirito Santo’s team.

Godfrey can play at centre-back but again Forest are well-stocked in that area of the pitch right now.

Milenkovic and Murillo have struck up a real rapport, with Morato, Willy Boly and Andrew Omobamidele – who can’t get in the squad at the moment – all options in reserve.

This feels like a bit of a loose link right now and in our view, paying to sign Godfrey in January wouldn’t make a great deal of sense.