The latest Nottingham Forest transfer news: Benfica defensive midfielder Florentino Luis is said to be of considerable interest.
Nottingham Forest are apparently considering a bid for long-term midfield target Florentino Luis, who wants to transfer to the Premier League.
As preparations for the club’s third consecutive season in the top flight begin, the next step will be determining how best to strengthen Nuno Espirito Santo’s team in order to compete at least a level above the relegation morass of previous seasons. This follows on from step one, which involved confirming a list of retained players, 13 of whom left Forest with immediate effect.
This will help Nuno free up a wage budget, and it is expected that his first move for Forest this summer will be to sign Luis from his country in a long-awaited deal.
The 24-year-old worked his way up the ranks at his boyhood club, earning 21 youth appearances, 69 for the club’s B Team, and finally 131 for the senior team after making his debut at the age of 19. His impressive performances sparked interest in Forest, which began last summer and again this week.
According to a report from Portuguese newspaper Correio de Manha, there is a great desire in the East Midlands to make a concrete step. They further believe that Luis, who has fallen down the pecking order under German coach Roger Schmidt, is eager to leave Benfica and transfer to a desirable division like the Premier League, where he can earn regular minutes again.
Chiekhou Kouyate, in particular, and Harry Arter have created voids in the engine room’s defensive department that will need to be filled in. Benfica’s 24-year-old, who is a natural deep-lying midfielder, will help that cause greatly.
Luis has previously received high acclaim from former Benfica youth coach Joao Tralhao, who compared him to Claude Makelele.
“He possesses the talent and quality to play for elite teams.” Remember when Real Madrid had the Galacticos? They needed someone to balance the team, and Makelele was extremely crucial,” he told GOAL.
This transfer would also see Nuno return to the market that brought him so much success at Wolves years ago. 12 of his 40 West Midlands recruits were from Portugal, as he guided Forest’s top-flight rivals from the second tier to European competition.
