Report: Nottingham Forest stunned as Europa League club claim they won't sell £16.5m attacker
01/19/2025 02:30 AM
Nottingham Forest are going in search of a new player or two during the January transfer window with a new talisman very much the order of the day.
Chris Wood is on fire this season, scoring 13 goals so far and is just one short of last season’s total. Behind him, however, Taiwo Awoniyi is wanted by West Ham and an attacker is being sought as a possible alternative.
Evangelos Marinakis is keen to bring a new striker to Forest before the window closes. If Awoniyi does remain at the club it wouldn’t be the end of the world but it would appear that he’s keen to play some football.
Signing players in January is never easy and signing a striker capable of coming in and making an impact whilst not being the first choice will be borderline impossible.
Nottingham Forest receive update on bid to sign Baris Yilmaz
It’s no secret that Forest have been looking at Yilmaz. Scouts have been in attendance at Galatasaray matches for a while with the Turkey international identified as a potential target.
However, signing looks to be tricky, with Fotospor now claiming that the Turkish giants aren’t going to be welcoming any offers this month with Lazio also in the mix to sign him.
Given the complexity of this deal and the player’s desire, Forest might have to wait until the summer for this one. Yilmaz might not yet be convinced by the club’s European credentials and qualification might need securing first.
Yilmaz, 24, has scored 11 goals in 28 appearances this season, registering one assist. He typically operates out wide but has proved this season that he’s comfortable through the middle too.
It was widely claimed that Forest would offer £16.5m to sign Yilmaz. However, that might not be enough to tempt Galatasaray into a sale before the current window closes.
Yilmaz would be quality addition for Forest
This would be the sort of signing that fans would be able to get behind. Yilmaz is a very talented player and his versatile approach would make him ideal for Nuno Espirito Santo.
It’s perhaps a shame that Forest won’t be able to get this one done until the summer. Indeed, if the club are desperately keen to sign someone before the window shuts, perhaps another attempt isn’t completely off the cards.
Yilmaz fits the profile of the type of player that Forest have been trying to sign. At 24, he’d retain significant resale value and he’d be arriving in England with his best days firmly ahead of him.
