Anderlecht’s CEO insists that it was Hendrik van Crombrugge himself rather than the Belgian giants who decided against a £1.5 million January move to Premier League outfit Nottingham Forest, speaking to La Derniere Heure.
Then again, after Keylor Navas marked his City Ground bow with a clean sheet and a virtuoso first-half performance in a crucial 1-0 win over Leeds, you could probably count those who care on five fingers.
Forest, The Sun say, had agreed a bargain deal with Anderlecht for Van Crombrugge.
But after getting cold feet and rebuffing Forest’s advances ‘for family reasons’, Steve Cooper’s increasingly-impressive side responded by snapping up a three-time Champions League-winning Real Madrid icon from none other than Paris Saint-Germain instead.
Nottingham Forest sign Keylor Navas after Hendrik van Crombrugge snub
“Hendrik himself chose not to go to the Premier League,” explains CEO Jesper Fredberg, insisting that Nottingham Forest missing out on Van Crombrugge was not connected to the aborted deal for Harry Toffolo.
“As managers, we can try to find solutions, but we cannot decide for the players. That’s just how it is. Hendrik is a good boy, and we are happy with him as a keeper.”
While Belgian international Van Crombrugge snubbed the chance to join Nottingham Forest’s ever-growing ranks of new signings, Toffolo saw a move in the other direction collapse at the 11th hour.
The former Huddersfield Town left-back will now stay on the banks of the Trent until the summer; Forest having opted to retain Toffolo due to Omar Richards’ ongoing injury issues.
“When you go to the transfer market, you have a plan,” Fredberg adds. “I think we succeeded on some points. But there are others where we didn’t, because of different circumstances.
“(Missing out on Toffolo is) a problem in my opinion. He had the perfect characteristics to fill a gap that we had. I was very annoyed that it didn’t happen.”
Navas ‘outstanding’ on Forest debut vs Leeds United
Toffolo was not part of Cooper’s squad for that hard-fought Leeds triumph on Sunday afternoon. A game lit up by the exceptional Navas. One of the modern era’s finest shot-stoppers wasting no time to show Nottingham Forest supporters what all the fuss is about.
“You don’t need me to tell you about his experience and the success he had,” Cooper beams. “But he will still have wanted to do well in his first game for the club. And he did. He was outstanding in the first half.
“The obvious talking points are his saves, and rightly. He deserves all the credit for that. But I loved his composure in the game as well; his game-management and his decision-making.
“I’m delighted he’s got up and running. It was something which helped us win the game, for sure. We’ve had a good few days with him. All he’s shown is a good work ethic, a humility and a desire to jump on board.
“We’re really pleased he’s here. We’re really looking forward to working with him now.
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