Under the then-manager Steve Cooper, Nottingham Forest was quite busy during the summer transfer window, adding 14 new players. During that time, only Burnley (16), who had just been promoted, hired more people.
As the deadline draws near, Forest—who has subsequently been accused of breaking the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules—hasn’t added any players, but that doesn’t mean they haven’t been involved.
After coming to an agreement with the player, Forest had intended to recruit Giovanni Reyna on a season-long loan from Borussia Dortmund, but Marseille of France has stepped in and could sabotage the deal. Ajax’s Carlos Forbs could be the backup plan; talks are currently progressing well.
Nuno Espirito Santo might also consider fortifying his position between the sticks. Matt Turner and Odysseas Vlachodimos were signed by predecessor Cooper during the summer, but neither player has been able to secure the top slot at the City Ground.
However, Forest is currently making an audacious attempt to acquire a player who could resolve that issue by firmly taking ownership of the position.
Forest contacts for the translocation of Gulacsi
Fabrizio Romano claims that Forest is negotiating to sign RB Leipzig’s Peter Gulacsi. Nuno has a top target in mind for the goalkeeper he wants to bring in “in the final days” of the transfer window.
The club has already communicated with Leipzig over a possible transfer, but they have discovered that Leipzig is unlikely to allow him to depart, making matters “tough.” In order to free up Gulacsi for a move, Forest may hope that the Bundesliga team can find a suitable replacement.
Gulacsi at “top-level” could be another Navas Gulacsi was once a player for Liverpool, but he left in 2013 to join RB Salzburg before moving to Leipzig, a sister team, two years later. With 287 games played for Leipzig, he has a wealth of experience at the highest level. He is currently 33 years old.
Nevertheless, Janis Blaswich took his spot in goal following an anterior cruciate ligament tear last season, and he has only played in three games this season—two of which have been in the goal.
During his tenure at the Red Bull Arena, Gulacsi made a name for himself as one of Europe’s top goalkeepers, earning a spot in Kicker’s Bundesliga Team of the Season for the 2018–19 season. Hungary has given him 51 caps, and in 2018 and 2019, the nation honored him Footballer of the Year twice.
Looking at the advanced data, you can see that he has led the way in Europe’s top five leagues for this metric in 18/19 (0.34) and has finished seventh or higher in the past five seasons three times when it comes to goals prevented per 90.
Danny Corcoran, a football writer and podcaster, called him a “top-level” shot-blocker. In some ways, he’s similar to Keylor Navas, a seasoned goalie moved to Forest due to his lack of playing time at a Champions League team (PSG in Navas’ case). Gulacsi has the potential to continue the club’s success this season, as the Costa Rican did the previous season.
