Nottingham Forest are on the verge of making two signings at once as we head towards Thursday night's Premier League transfer deadline, with David Ornstein now confirming one of them has a rather large buy option.
Forest set to sign Reyna and Ribeiro
The Reds look to have secured the attacking reinforcments they have been desperate for, locking up a deal for Borussia Dortmund rising star and USA international Giovanni Reyna. Reyna will sign for Forest on loan until the end of the season, with Evangelos Marinakis expected to cover the entirety of the attacking midfielder's £50,000-a-week wages.
Nuno Espirito Santo had made signing an attacker a priority in the closing stages of the window, prompting links with West Ham outcast Maxwel Cornet, but they have instead managed to fend off competition from Marseille for Reyna, who needs a fresh start having only managed 272 minutes of Bundesliga action this season.
Nuno’s priority: Forest now “exploring” late move for “spectacular” forward
Forest are working on another deal in tandem with Gio Reyna.
ByDavid Comerford
As reported by Fabrizio Romano on X on Wednesday morning, Forest are also on the verge of a deal to sign 18 year-old forward Rodrigo Ribeiro.
Ribeiro's stats show he's impressing at youth level despite not really breaking into Sporting's senior set-up, scoring six in nine appearances in the UEFA Youth League last season as his side beat some impressive competition on their way to the semi-finals.
Group Stage
Eintracht Frankfurt
1
0
Group Stage
Tottenham
1
0
Group Stage
Marseille
2
2
Round of 16
Ajax
1
0
Quarter Finals
Liverpool
1
0
The youngster will have Chris Wood and Taiwo Awoniyi ahead of him in the pecking order, but could become second in command if Wood moves on in the near future, as the New Zealand international turns 33 later this year.
Is there a buy option for Reyna and Ribeiro?
Forest fans will of course be concerned about the long-term squad structure with two loan deals arriving late in the day, and while there is still no word on a clause in Reyna's deal, The Athletic's Ornstein has confirmed a hefty fee inserted in the agreement with Sporting for Ribeiro.
A £10m deal – if that is all it is – would make the teenage striker Forest's 13th most expensive arrival of all time.
1. Ibrahim Sangaré
PSV
£30m
2. Morgan Gibbs-White
Wolves
£25m
3. Taiwo Awoniyi
Union Berlin
£17.5m
4. Danilo
Palmeiras
£17m
5. Neco Williams
Liverpool
£17m
13. Rodrigo Ribeiro*
Sporting CP
£10m