Nottingham Forest want to sign a young Chelsea defender on loan…but Jake Clarke-Salter might not be the only Blue boy at the City Ground.
Nottingham Forest are looking to Chelsea to enhance their Achilles heel in the January transfer market.
Mark Warburton wants a left-sided centre-back at the City Ground and, according to ESPN, has identified Under-20 World Cup winner Jake Clarke-Salter (above) as his top target. The classy centre-half, who played against Forest in the EFL Cup earlier this season, would move to the City Ground on loan for the rest of the season.
But could he be joined in the East Midlands by another Chelsea starlet? According to The Mail, the highly-rated right-back Dujon Sterling looks set to gain experience away from Stamford Bridge via a short-term exit in the New Year.
Bournemouth want to take Sterling to the South Coast after the success of their 2016 Nathan Ake deal but it is understood that they face competition from more than one second tier side.
Will Nottingham Forest be among them? Well, it is quite possible. Forest are enduring something of an injury crisis at full-back right now with Michael Mancienne forced to fill in on the right in the absence Tendayi Darikwa in the weekend’s 2-1 defeat at Bristol City.
Sterling, then, would provide some youthful alternatives alongside Clarke-Salter in Warburton’s backline. An attacking full-back with an eye for goal, the 18-year-old made his debut against Forest in that 5-1 thrashing at Stamford Bridge back in September.
So if Forest are asking Chelsea about Clarke-Salter, it does no harm to enquire about Sterling’s availability at the same time.
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