Nottingham Forest are reportedly keen on Chelsea’s £40 million forgotten man Tiemoue Bakayoko with the midfielder’s loan spell at Serie A champions AC Milan potentially coming to an early end, as reported by Calciomercato.
As far as transfer windows go, you’d struggle to find a worse one than Chelsea circa 2017.
The Blues – defending Premier League champions at the time – signed six players that summer. And while Antonio Rudiger proved to be excellent value for money, while Willy Caballero ended up becoming a useful squad player, you certainly cannot say the same about Alvaro Morata, Davide Zappacosta, Danny Drinkwater and Tiemoue Bakayoko.
No wonder Conte walked away, frustrated in the extreme by the club’s transfer market activity.
Could Nottingham Forest really sign Chelsea’s Tiemoue Bakayoko?
What would he say, you wonder, when confronted with the fact that Bakayoko is still a Chelsea player in the summer of 2022. The £40 million misfit – a man with more cards than Clinton’s – hasn’t even played for the London giants in four years.
Eyebrows have certainly been raised, then, as reports from Italy suggest that Bakayoko could become the latest in a long, long list of summer signings at Nottingham Forest. Negotiations, according to Calciomercato, are underway. Bakayoko is available too, no longer part of Stefano Pioli’s plans at the San Siro and obviously not part of Chelsea’s either.
Luca Bianchin, of Gazzetta dello Sport, backs up those claims. Forest, he says, are hoping to reach an agreement over Bakayoko’s wages. Bakayoko reportedly earns £110,000-a-week at Stamford Bridge (Spotrac).
Now, they do say there’s no smoke without fire. But judgement should perhaps be reserved for the time being. Think about it; If you’re an agent looking to find a new club for your client, it wouldn’t be the worst idea floating Nottingham Forest’s name to the media. After all, everyone knows Forest are in the midst of an almost unprecedented overhaul.
Furthermore, while Bakayoko might have registered on their radar, that does not mean he was ever the number one pick. Remo Freuler is officially a Forest player as of Sunday night; Joining fellow midfielders Lewis O’Brien, Orel Mangala and Cheikhou Kouyate. Ruslan Malinovskyi is potentially on his way too.
If Bakayoko was a serious target, surely his name wouldn’t have emerged so late in the window, right? After a whole host of other midfielders arrived at the City Ground first.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
