Nottingham Forest have been pipped to the post in the race to sign Sparta Rotterdam’s Abdou Harroui with De Telegraaf claiming the midfielder is on his way to Sassuolo.
After finally securing their first point of the season on Saturday – recovering from a dismal first half to leave Wayne Rooney’s Derby disappointed at Pride Park – that brief sliver of optimism will be tempered by yet another transfer blow.
Forest have already missed out on one Eredivisie playmaker after seeing three bids rejected by Fortuna Sittard for Zian Flemming.
Dinamo Zagreb striker Sandro Kulenovic turned down a move to the City Ground too, while Newcastle United’s Matty Longstaff sealed a short-term switch to Aberdeen on Friday.
And if Forest fans are hoping to see a highly promising Dutch U21 international arrive before tonight’s 11pm deadline, we wouldn’t recommend holding your breath.
Nottingham Forest miss out on another target as Harroui heads for Sassuolo
According to Algemeen Dagblad, Sparta Rotterdam hoped to reach an agreement with the two-time European Champions last week after Nottingham Forest made a £2.5 million offer for Harroui.
However, the 23-year-old appeared to have reservations about joining a club stuck at the bottom of the Championship table.
Harroui was waiting to see whether better offers would present themselves and, with all due to respect to Forest, it seems his patience has paid off.
De Telegraaf claims Sassuolo – who’ve finished in the top half of Serie A in each of the past two seasons – have reached an agreement with Harroui. The skilful midfielder is undergoing a medical today after Sassuolo gazumped Forest with a £3 million bid.
The deal works better for Sparta Rotterdam too. Harroui will return to the Eredivisie on loan before finally moving to Italy in 2022.
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