Report: Senior figures plans for Nottingham Forest this month

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Nottingham Forest’s interest in Yoane Wissa sparked great excitement in the fanbase, but recent updates have cast doubt on the rumour.

Forest showed interest in Wissa in what was an ambitious target for Evangelos Marinakis, given his dependable Premier League goalscoring record for Brentford.

The Congolese striker has 12 league goals so far this season, one behind Chris Wood who became Forest’s record Premier League scorer in December.

Wissa’s versatility appealed to Forest when scouting for an alternative to Wood, given his ability to play in both wide positions as well as centrally which would give Nuno Espirito Santo more of a goalscoring threat across the front line.

It seemed that Forest had been given a boost in their pursuit as Brentford will listen to offers for Wissa, but the latest update from the Forest side suggests that they won’t be acting upon this opportunity.

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Senior Nottingham Forest figures want a ‘quiet’ January window

In a report by The Athletic, any potential for incoming players at the City Ground were thrown into doubt due to the opinion of figures at the top of the Forest hierarchy.

The report said that Forest are: “Keen to bolster their forward options with the addition of another striker, to provide competition and cover for Wood and [Taiwo] Awoniyi.”

However, the report also stated: “Senior figures [are] hoping for a quiet, considered January window.”

“Considered” doesn’t necessarily suggest that there will be no incoming players to support the Forest coaching staff, Marinakis is clearly willing to trust the current Forest squad’s ability to see their challenge for European football over the line.

A single signing could still be seen as “considered”, though, if the player in question was able to solve multiple problems for Espirito Santo. Someone in the mould of Wissa.

Yoane Wissa could still be a “considered” Nottingham Forest deal

Given that Wissa’s versatility is one of the main attributes that has tempted the Forest owner into making a move for him, the deal could still be “considered” if he was brought in to cover multiple positions.

Forest look to be keeping Awoniyi in January, so Wissa’s role in Espirito Santo’s plans could be a hybrid one, between providing competition centrally and as a goalscoring winger.

In the 2019/20 season, Wissa scored 13 goals in 20 appearances from the left-wing position for Lorient, proving that he is capable of producing solid numbers out wide as well as through the middle.

Marinakis’ January priority was to retain Forest’s stars so it is understandable that he would be reluctant to risk a new addition that could disrupt things, but the versatility of Wissa makes that risk much lower and allows the “considered” approach in January to remain respected.

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