Nottingham Forest target Viktor Tsygankov has completed a bargain £4.5 million move to La Liga outfit Girona just days after being linked with Steve Cooper’s Premier League side, as reported by Diario AS.
On Friday last week, SportArena claimed that not only Nottingham Forest but Brentford too had expressed an interest in the then-Dynamo Kiev talisman.
This is not the first time Thomas Frank’s Brentford pushed for the arrival of an exciting Ukraine international either. The Bees were snubbed by Mykhaylo Mudryk around eight months prior to his eventual £88 million move to Chelsea. And their hopes of luring Tsygankov to West London have now suffered a similar fate.
Nottingham Forest and Brentford miss out as Viktor Tsygankov leaves Dynamo Kiev
“I feel happy here, with my family,” Tsygankov says after completing a bargain £4.5 million move to Girona, the La Liga outfit taking advantage of his expiring contract at Dynamo Kiev.
“I spoke with the representatives of the coaching staff. They want me to be here. I think that is the most important thing.
“I watched the last few matches Girona. They are playing great. I think this is the best step for me. I want to develop and grow together with the team, to become a better football player.”
Girona are currently 11th in the La Liga table, albeit just five points above the relegation zone. Tsygankov, a winger with nine goals and six assists in just 23 games this season, should go a long way to helping the Catalan-based side secure another season in Spain’s top flight.
And Ukrainian reporter Igor Boyko believes Tsygankov leaves for a fraction of his market value; telling FanDay that this is a player who, as a youngster, had greater potential than a man who became the fourth most expensive ever Premier League player over the weekend.
“An 18-year-old or 20-year-old Tsygankov was definitely better and more expensive than the 18 or 20-year-old Mudryk,” Boyko says. “However, Mudryk was sold in the best traditions of Portuguese clubs (at a high price).”
“I’ve seen him play against Ireland on a few occasions,” former Tottenham defender Stephen Kelly tells the BBC of Mudryk. “He absolutely tore us apart. He just stood out (with) his pace,”
“(Mudryk) kind of reminds me of Heung-Min Son of Tottenham, the way he plays. He’s so quick, both-footed and really direct.”
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