Matt Turner’s time as a starting goalkeeper at Nottingham Forest looks to be coming to an end. The United States men’s national team star previously joined the club from fellow Premier League side Arsenal in the summer. Forest ended up paying around $9 million for the shot-stopper.
The move by Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta to sanction the sale of his backup was widely met with criticism. After all, Turner was respected as a decent backup option by many fans and pundits. In the end, the Gunners used the funds raised by the sale and signed Brentford star David Raya. The move to swap Turner for Raya has been a brilliant decision by Arteta.
Turner performed fairly well during his first few months in the East Midlands. He previously picked up clean sheets against Chelsea and Crystal Palace in two of his first eight top-flight matches with Forest. Nevertheless, things quickly went south following a series of mishaps between the sticks.
Turner has several blunders under his belt with new club
Former Forest manager Steve Cooper initially dropped Turner from his starting XI in early November. This came after the American’s significant blunder to gift Liverpool a goal just before Halloween. The Reds went on to thump Forest 3-0 on the day. Cooper then eventually opted to go with Odysseas Vlachodimos for the next five league games.
Turner was, however, given a second chance by Cooper before he was fired in favor of Nuno Espírito Santo. The Portuguese manager also chose the American as his starting goalkeeper once he entered the fray on December 20th. Nevertheless, Turner, and his defending teammates, then allowed three goals each to Bournemouth and Brentford.
The final straw for Nuno regarding his goalkeeper then came in a recent matchup with Arsenal. Turner allowed a soft goal against his former club to help give the Gunners a 2-1 victory. The latest mishap even made Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis break a TV near his seat inside the City Ground.
Forest scrambles to replace Turner as the No. 1 keeper
Turner’s display forced Forest to make a late move in the transfer market. It was reported on Wednesday that the club was in discussions with Crystal Palace to sign Sam Johnstone. The England international could have potentially been available if Forest offered more than $17 million, a fee the club balked at.
While they did not want to pay this much for Johnstone, they were reportedly willing to spend $17 million on Liverpool No. 2 Caoimhin Kelleher. The Reds, however, rejected the offer. Forest then quickly turned their attention to Brest goalkeeper Marco Bizot. Just like Liverpool, the French side also blocked an approach for their starting shot-stopper.
Although these particular moves did not pan out, Forest eventually targeted Strasbourg keeper Matz Sels. The veteran Belgian previously featured for Newcastle while they were in the second-tiered Championship during the 2016/17 season. Forest managed to agree a fee with Strasbourg for Sels in the region of $7 million.
Turner has not exactly automatically lost his place with the addition of Sels. Nevertheless, Forest’s late scramble to find a new goalkeeper shows how little faith Nuno has in the USMNT star. Sels is still likely to take over the starting spot in the team. As a result, Turner may have to move on from Forest in the summer if he wants a starting role.
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