'Concrete and ambitious' £33m offer emerges as Nottingham Forest plot summer transfer raid
Plans are seemingly already in the works for Nottingham Forest’s summer transfer business as the club have reportedly lodged their interest in Real Madrid defender Raul Asencio.
The Reds were first linked with the 21-year-old in December, ahead of the winter transfer window opening. Aston Villa and Newcastle United were also said to be eyeing the player up at the time amid talk of a €10 million (£8m) price tag being placed on the Spaniard’s head.
It ended up being a quiet transfer window at the City Ground. Aside from re-signing goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey on a short-term contract, the only addition made was young defender Tyler Bindon.
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Bindon put pen to paper on a three-year deal from Reading but was immediately loaned back to the Royals for the remainder of the season. The New Zealand international will link up with Nuno Espirito Santo’s side in the summer, and it appears Forest are eyeing up Asencio to potentially do the same.
According to Spanish publication Fichajes, the Reds have put forward a “concrete and ambitious” offer for the centre-back. The report claims they are “willing to pay” €40m (£33m) in a sign of the club’s “determination” to secure Asencio’s signature.
It is said Forest are “willing to bet heavily” on the youngster and have “submitted a formal offer”. However, the Spanish giants “have not made a definitive decision” on Asencio and will weigh up whether the “proposal is attractive enough” for a player they believe could become a “valuable asset” in the future.
Asencio joined Real Madrid’s youth academy in 2017, at the age of 13. He made his La Liga debut last November when he came off the bench in a 4-0 victory over Osasuna and has made a further 10 league appearances since then.
A key part of Forest’s transfer strategy in recent windows has been buying young players for the future. They would like to have added a striker before last Monday’s deadline but head coach Nuno has admitted it proved to be a “difficult” market for a number of clubs.
By the time the summer comes around, the Reds will hope to be planning for European football. But wherever they finish in the Premier League this term, it will almost certainly be a busier transfer window in a few months’ time as Forest look to bolster Nuno’s squad.
