Nottingham Forest are reportedly hoping to sign Remi Walter from Ligue 1 outfit Nice, with Sabri Lamouchi moving away from the Martin O’Neill regime.
Sabri Lamouchi has been in charge of Nottingham Forest for less than two weeks but he already appears to be building a new-look side in his own image.
According to the Nottingham Post, the former Ivory Coast boss realised almost immediately that the City Ground was crying out for players with class, composure and plenty of technical ability as he looks to move away from the pragmatism of the Martin O’Neill era.
So far, Tiago Silva, Alfa Semedo and Yuri Ribeiro have all arrived from Portuguese football – and Forest won’t stop there. According to France Football, Bordeaux’s Younnousse Sankhare is a target with the 29-year-old Senegal international expected to leave Ligue 1 this summer.
But it’s Remi Walter, a former France U21 international who plays for Nice in his homeland, who could be the most important piece of business Forest conclude all summer.
He might not be one of the most recognisable names in French football, or indeed at Nice, but the 24-year-old’s influence cannot be understated. And it is his 92 per cent pass completion rate which really stands out.
Walter is a superb passer of the ball, a reliable distributor who loves to dictate the tempo and rhythm of the game from his role at the heart of midfield. His passing accuracy is far higher than the likes of Claudio Yacob, Ryan Yates, Ben Watson and Pele, all of whom rather summed up the rudimentary style O’Neil introduced from January to June.
If Lamouchi wants his Forest teams to have more control of the game and play with technique rather than tenacity, Walter could reflect this change in style more than anyone.
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