Matt Turner’s stint as Nottingham Forest’s starting midfielder appears to be coming to an end.
Matz Sels, the goalkeeper for Strasbourg, is reputedly valued £5.5 million that Forest acquired on deadline day.
The Premier League team is expected to sign a three-and-a-half-year contract with the 31-year-old Belgium international, who may make his debut as soon as Sunday’s game against Bournemouth.
Before the winter transfer market closed, Forest had been trying to sign a new goalkeeper since, according to a number of reports, the club was linked to several goalkeepers in Europe.
According to reports, offers of £15 million for Caoimhin Kelleher of Liverpool, goalkeeper Marco Bizot of Brest, and Koen Casteels of Wolfsburg were all turned down. Another target was Sam Johnstone, but an attempt for the England international was rejected by Crystal Palace.
The fact that Forest seemed eager to recruit a new goalkeeper—any goalkeeper, really—says something about how unhappy the team is with Turner and backup Odysseas Vlachodimos, who were both acquired during the summer.
Turner had a strong start to the season, but after a few poor performances, he was eventually benched in early November. The starting center for the U.S. national team promptly assumed his position after Vlachodimos’s lackluster efforts over a few games.
But since taking the field again, Turner has committed a string of disastrous mistakes that almost guaranteed his benching. In his most recent, Turner gave up at the near post during a 2-1 loss against his old team, Arsenal, earlier this week.
Prior to that error, there were two prominent possession errors that resulted in goals. The first one was against Manchester United, while the second one was against Tottenham.
Turrner joined Forest in the summer of 2027 on a contract worth up to £10 million, having previously played at Arsenal.
