Nottingham Forest in pole position to land Arsenal target after ‘acceptable verbal proposal’ made

Nottingham Forest have reportedly made a verbal proposal for Monaco midfielder Youssouf Fofana, who has previously been linked with a move to Arsenal.

Steve Cooper has already brought in four new additions this summer as he aims to cement the Tricky Trees’ spot in the Premier League.

Last season, Nottingham Forest survived the drop by four points. Cooper will be hoping that the club’s transfer business will help them push up the table this term.

Next on the manager’s list is Fofana, who, as mentioned, has been linked with a move to Arsenal in the past. Mikel Arteta saw the Frenchman as a potential replacement for Thomas Partey if he were to leave the club.

Partey’s exit from the Emirates never materialised, however, and Nottingham Forest are now leading the race for Fofana’s signature.

This will come as a major boost for Cooper. He already has plenty of midfield options at his disposal but Fofana arguably has the quality to slot straight into his starting XI.

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Forest make ‘verbal proposal’ for Fofana

According to reputed transfer journalist David Ornstein, Nottingham Forest have made a ‘verbal offer’ for Fofana and have matched Monaco’s demands.

“Nottingham Forest have made a verbal proposal to sign Youssouf Fofana from Monaco,” Ornstein wrote on Twitter.

“€35m + add-ons offer meets Monaco’s expectations. Nottingham Forest also speaking with 24yo France int’l to try to agree on terms. Other clubs closely monitoring the situation.”

Fofana signed for Monaco in 2019 and he has since become one of the most admired midfielders in Ligue 1. He has made 141 appearances for them in all competitions, scoring three goals and making 11 assists.

He was also part of the France squad that reached the World Cup final last year, so there is certainly no so doubting his quality.

Fofana’s best attributes are defensive ones. Last season, he made an average of 2.3 tackles per game and 1.6 interceptions. He is also starting to become more of a threat in attack, too, averaging 1.2 shots on target per match.

With that in mind, Fofana has the potential to play a traditional box-to-box role for Nottingham Forest this season.

If the Tricky Trees have met Monaco’s valuation for Fofana, as the report suggests, then the only thing left for them to agree on is personal terms with the midfielder.

As it stands, Nottingham Forest are the big favourites to land the highly-rated Frenchman this summer.

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