Nottingham Forest are close to bringing Atalanta’s Remo Freuler to the Premier League and hope to sign his Serie A team-mate Ruslan Malinovskyi too in a potential £22 million double deal, as reported by Tuttomercatoweb.
If Freuler does most of his work in the shadows – going about his business with an assured poise while leaving the headlines to others – Malinovskyi is certainly a more obviously eye-catching footballer. A velvet fist in an iron glove, if you will.
Malinovskyi, to quote one esteemed football commentator, has a foot like the proverbial traction engine. When the Ukraine international is winding up a shot with his ‘cannon’ of a left boot, then only the bravest of defenders will throw their bodies on the line.
A regular source of goals – often spectacular, long-range ones that wouldn’t feel out of place with a Lightning Seeds soundtrack jangling along in the background – Malinovskyi has hit double figures in three of his last four seasons.
It’s not difficult to see why Nottingham Forest want him. Steve Cooper is not exactly overloaded with goalscoring midfielders after all. Jesse Lingard is perhaps the only member of the Forest squad capable of finding the net regularly at Premier League level; Even if Ryan Yates does pose a real threat at set-pieces.
Nottingham Forest hope to strike Atalanta double-deal
According to Tuttomercatoweb, Nottingham Forest are offering £12 million for Malinovskyi. If there is a deal to be agreed, the playmaker will join Atalanta team-mate Remo Freuler at the City Ground. Freuler should undergo a medical today, after Forest shook hands on a £10 million fee.
“To tell the truth, Ruslan has had a really important season,” coach Gian Piero Gasperini tells TMW.
“Last year, he was a bit more troubled, perhaps due to some injuries. Now, when he is at his best, he becomes decisive. When he manages to clean up his game, with the shot he has, he becomes important; Often, decisive.”
TMW do not share how much Atalanta would want for Malinovskyi. According to Ukrainian publication SportArena, the Serie A outfit wanted £20 million last year. Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea and Inter Milan came calling at the time.
Such a fee would mean Forest will have to shatter their transfer record for the second time this summer.
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