Championship duo Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa are reportedly battling to sign goalkeeper Costel Pantilimon from Premier League Watford.
Nottingham Forest could be left disappointed in their attempts to sign last season’s loanees Jack Colback and Lee Tomlin on permanent deals.
Colback’s hefty wages at Newcastle United make a summer transfer difficult, while Tomlin is allegedly keen to sample Premier League football at Cardiff City.
The 6ft 8ins Romanian moved to Forest on loan from Watford in January and impressed, particularly during a run of three successive clean sheets against Norwich, Derby and Sheffield United in March.
But the Sun is now reporting that Villa have emerged as a potential rival for Aitor Karanka’s East Midland giants.
Villa lost the play-off final to Fulham last weekend, meaning they cannot afford a permanent deal for Manchester United ‘keeper Sam Johnstone (below), so the club are now on the lookout for affordable alternatives and Pantilimon fits the bill.
Nottingham Forest fans are obviously concerned about the prospect of Pantilimon having played his last game for the club.
Forest have spent the last few transfer windows desperately trying to solve their goalkeeping problem and, for most of his loan spell, Pantilimon looked like the long-term solution.
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