Championship giants Nottingham Forest were reportedly keen to sign Vukcevic but he eventually swapped Braga for La Liga.
Back in June, Nottingham Forest were linked with a big-money move for the tough tackling Braga midfielder Nikola Vukcevic.
According to A Bola, super-agent Jorge Mendes was behind the bid to bring the Montenegro international to the City Ground. Vukcevic’s £13 million release clause would have made him the most expensive player in Forest’s history, level with the Portugal U21 starlet Joao Carvalho.
Instead of linking up with Aitor Karanka’s side, however, Vukcevic ended the summer transfer window as a Levante player.
And he now finds himself at the centre of a bitter club-versus-country row.
The 26-year-old had been ruled out for three weeks after spraining an ankle in action for Levante. But rather than stay at home, Vukcevic then jetted out to represent Montenegro on international duty.
And, to make matters worse, Vukcevic is understood to have aggravated his initial injury after playing 90 minutes in a 2-0 defeat to Serbia and is now set for even longer on the sidelines.
No wonder Levante coach Paco Lopez is unhappy.
“We must all learn from what has happened, first the player because he has to know how to put in maximum effort for the team that pays him,” Lopez told Levante EM.
“The player gave his explanation and the important thing is to learn from the mistakes. We hope that he is ready to help the team and the club as soon as possible.”
Did Forest dodge a bullet, an expensive one at that? The famously card-happy Vukcevic has played just 83 minutes of La Liga football since arriving from Portugal and was sent off in a 2-1 defeat against Real Valladolid in his most recent outing.
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