Sources: Nottingham Forest abandoned chase for ‘outstanding’ English player on deadline day

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• EXCLUSIVE from Graeme Bailey

Nottingham Forest wanted to sign Sam Johnstone from Premier League rivals Crystal Palace on the final day of the January transfer window, HITC Football understands.

Sources have told HITC Football that Nottingham Forest were in talks over signing former Manchester United prospect Sam Johnstone from Crystal Palace on Thursday.

Nottingham Forest were in talks over Sam Johnstone

However, Forest pulled out of talks and decided to focus on getting a deal done for former Newcastle United goalkeeper Matz Sels instead.

Forest announced the signing of Sels from French club RC Strasbourg Alsace late on Thursday. We believe that the transfer fee that the Reds have paid for the 31-year-old Belgium international goalkeeper is £5 million.

Johnstone is still at Palace. The 30-year-old England international goalkeeper has been on the books of the Eagles since 2022.

Sam Johnstone and Matt Turner futures now uncertain

The future of Sam Johnstone at Crystal Palace is now uncertain, and there will be doubts about Matt Turner at Nottingham Forest as well.

Johnstone is a very good and experienced goalkeeper. He is 30 now and is at the top of his game. Palace chairman Steve Parish has previously described him as “outstanding”.

However, he is now the second-choice goalkeeper at Palace at the moment. Johnstone started the first 16 Premier League matches this season, but an injury against Liverpool saw him spend time on the sidelines.

Dean Henderson stepped up, and the former Manchester United goalkeeper has kept his place in the Palace team even after the recovery of Johnstone.

That Forest were in talks over Johnstone indicate that the goalkeeper as well as Palace were open to a parting of the days.

The signing of Matz Sels will put a lot of pressure on Matt Turner. The USA international goalkeeper has made costly mistakes for Nottingham Forest since his move from Arsenal in the summer of 2023.

Sels is a more experienced goalkeeper, and Forest manager Nuno is now likely to make the former Newcastle United player his number one between the posts.