According to reports, negotiations to buy Gelson Martins from Monaco have proceeded to a more advanced stage for Nottingham Forest.
Nuno Espirito Santo would be joining up with a fellow Portuguese national, and this might be his first signing at the City Ground as manager.
Martins hasn’t played for Monaco in almost a year, so manager Adi Hutter has kept him out of the team.
The winger hasn’t played in any manner since suffering an adductor injury later that month, which occurred on February 1 against Auxerre, his last start.
Although Martins’s injury further interfered with his preseason, manager Hutter has had the last say over whether to include him in the lineup.
The player is allegedly in advanced talks to join Forest, according to Portuguese publication Maisfutebol, with six months remaining on his contract at the principality.
Monaco would much rather let the player go in January for a transfer fee, even if it’s only a little one, than to let his contract run out and lose him on a free agent in the summer.
Atletico Madrid paid €22 million (£19 million) to acquire the wide player to the Metropolitano in the summer of 2018, after he made his debut for Sporting Lisbon in the middle to late 2010s.
However, after failing to make an impact in the Spanish capital, Martins moved to Monaco on loan just six months later, and the Ligue 1 side made the move permanent the following summer.
Martins signed a five-year deal with the club, and enjoyed a productive first three years after making his move permanent.
However, injuries were disruptive even when he was a regular, and they have ultimately seen him fall further down the pecking order in the past two seasons.
At just 28 though, Martins still has plenty of his career ahead of him, and even though the report states that clubs in MLS and the Russian Premier League are interested in his services, the winger would prefer to test himself in the Premier League.
Forest took a gamble on another winger with a worrying injury history in Callum Hudson-Odoi during the summer window, and setbacks have disrupted his season, causing Forest to dip back into the market.
Keeping Martins fit could make it a very shrewd signing for the club though, given the quality he has shown in the past, especially in his final season at Sporting, where he contributed to 24 goals across domestic and European competitions.
