Nottingham Forest have added another £5 million to their bid for Florentino Luis. The Reds appear to have switched their focus to the Portuguese performer as they try to sign another midfielder.
According to Record, Forest have now bid around £30 million in total. Still, however, it’s been rejected once again by Benfica who are holding out for a little more.
Signing Florentino is proving tricky. He has a contract with Benfica until 2027 and at 23-years-old he still has bags of unearthed potential.
Still, Benfica will be at the mercy of clubs playing in bigger European leagues than the one they feature in. This month, it’s also been claimed that Liverpool might take a look at Florentino after missing out on Moises Caicedo.
Furthermore, the ball might be in Luis’ court somewhat this summer. He’s not considered the first choice anymore at Benfica and reportedly wants to leave to play regular football.
Forest target Florentino has been on the books of Benfica for his entire career. He rose through the youth ranks with his current club and has spent time on loan with Monaco and Getafe.
The defence-minded midfielder doesn’t look to be in the club’s plans this season. In their opening game of the campaign against Boavista, he played for just six minutes from the bench.
Interestingly, Squawka offers some information that might make him a very important signing. They claim that the player made more tackles last season than Ibrahim Sangare did.
Forest have also been in the mix to sign the Ivorian this summer. Last season he made 68 tackles for PSV but Florentino made 82 for Benfica.
Forest add £5 million on to bid for Florentino
One of Florentino’s coaches of old at Benfica Joao Tralhao, previously raved about the player. He called him ‘amazing’ and compared him to some of the best defensive midfielders in the world.
The challenge for Forest when it comes to signing Florentino could be his transfer fee. They now know that Benfica want over £30 million but the Reds are expected to make another bid for his services.
Florentino will likely fancy a move though. He wants to play football and the real question here is how far Forest are willing to go when it comes to bidding for him.
Forest do need another midfielder and Florentino might be perfect. He’s got a very similar skillset to Sangare and the Reds just need to strike a deal with Benfica.
