Oxford United centre-back Curtis Nelson is reportedly a firm favourite of Nottingham Forest manager Mark Warburton – he wanted him at Rangers.
If Curtis Nelson was in demand last summer, his performances this season will hardly have put off potential suitors in need of a solid centre-half.
The Plymouth Herald reported that Nelson, then the captain of Plymouth Argyle, had impressed Rangers scouts after a series of influential performances in the backline of the South Coast club.
And you could see why manager Mark Warburton was reportedly interested. Powerful and commanding, Nelson offers everything Rangers have lacked at the back this season.
A year on, however, it will be interesting to note whether Warburton will renew his interest.
With his new club, Nottingham Forest, boasting the second worst defensive record in the Championship this season and heading into the final day with their survival hopes on a knife edge, you’d imagine reinforcements are high on Warburton’s summer wish list.
Flying high
Nelson has shone since moving up a division last summer, swapping Plymouth for League One high-flyers Oxford United, and it appears that he has the potential to make another forward step next season too.
There are few more solid defenders in the third tier. And his three goals from centre-back, including one in January’s FA Cup fourth round hammering of Newcastle United, means he has been a threat at either end.
If only Forest could call on a defender with such consistency. They gifted QPR both goals in Saturday’s loss at Loftus Road, with individual defensive errors plunging Warburton’s side into the midst of a heart stopping, final day relegation scrap.
With underwhelming summer signings Damien Perquis and Thomas Lam understandably out-of-favour, it would be no surprise if Warburton was to make Nelson his top summer target.
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