Nottingham Forest apparently went through desperate measures in their attempt to replace Matt Turner.
The United States men’s national team star only just arrived to the club in August on a four-year deal. While the move was generally thought to be shrewd signing, Turner’s time in the East Midlands may not last as long as originally planned.
After an initial solid start, the 29-year-old goalkeeper has unfortunately made several blunders with his new team.
Most notably, Turner was benched after a significant mistake during a matchup with Liverpool in October. After getting back into the team a month later, he was then at fault for Arsenal‘s opening goal in the club’s last match.
Premier League club signed Belgian after other deals fell through
As a result of the latest issue, Forest brass elected to sign a new keeper before the January transfer window closed. It first seemed as if Crystal Palace shot-stopper Sam Johnstone would be heading to Forest on January 31st. After all, the two sides reportedly discussed a deal at length. However, Forest seemingly did not want to meet Palace’s demands for the England international.
Forest then quickly scrambled to sign a new goalkeeper in the final hours of the window. The club ultimately settled on veteran Belgian international Matz Sels in a $6.5 million deal with Strasbourg. An additional $2 million can possibly be added on as well, assuming certain stipulations are met. Sels signed a three-and-a-half year deal to join Forest.
Mats Sels was the eventual goalkeeper signing for Forest in January
Nevertheless, The Athletic is now reporting that Forest officials made several other attempts to bring in a new keeper. Prior to the move Sels, the club apparently targeted another Beligan: Koen Casteels. In fact, the news outlet claims that Forest brass submitted an official offer to Wolfsburg for the goalkeeper over a week ago. The German club, however, denied the request.
After trying for Casteels, Forest turned their attention to Real Betis’ Rui Silva. The 29-year-old keeper previously picked up a Portugal cap back in 2021 and has made 80 total appearances for the Spanish side. The two teams could also obviously not agree on terms of a potential transfer.
Forest also made late moves for a trio of star shot-stoppers
In undoubtedly the most surprising attempt by Forest, the club approached Spanish star David De Gea. Despite receiving several offers in recent months, the former Spain international is currently a free agent after departing Manchester United back in June.
Forest tried to smooth out a deal by utilizing Nuno Espirito Santo’s good relationship with De Gea’s agent, Jorge Mendes. Nuno only recently joined the club after Steve Cooper was fired in December. De Gea, however, rejected Forest’s short-term proposal.
Along with De Gea, the club also pursued possible deals with Liverpool and Arsenal for Caoimhin Kelleher and Aaron Ramsdale respectively.
The Ireland international is currently backup to Alisson at the Reds. Despite Forest’s interest, Liverpool did not want Kelleher to leave the team in January. Arsenal also had similar thoughts about losing Ramsdale as well.
While Forest did eventually have to settle on Sels, the club’s late scramble to find a new goalkeeper shows how little faith Nuno has in Turner. Because of this, the Belgian will more than likely become Forest’s starting goalkeeper in the near future.
Photo credits: IMAGO / Sportsphoto : IMAGO / PanoramiC
