Werder Bremen goalkeeper Felix Wiedwald looks certain to play Championship football next season – but with Leeds United rather than Nottingham Forest.
It’s not often that you can put a positive spin on missing out on a transfer target. Yet, with Leeds United closing on Werder Bremen goalkeeper Felix Wiedwald, as reported by Kicker, Nottingham Forest should be far from despondent.
German publication Spox claimed they were challenging Leeds, as well as Wolves and Norwich City, for the 27-year-old. And it’s little surprise that a new goalkeeper is high on manager Mark Warburton’s list of priorities.
Only bottom of the table Rotherham United conceded more goals than Forest, who survived only on goal difference, in the 2016/17 Championship season. Much-maligned Serb Vladimir Stojkovic did very little to convince in his 20 league appearances after signing from Maccabi Haifa while Stephen Henderson spent the last few months of the season on the treatment table.
Its fair to say Vladimir Stojkovic wasn’t a favourite amongst Forest supporters
22-year-old rookie Jordan Smith stepped in to great effect in the final weeks of the campaign, his performance in the final day 3-0 battering of Ipswich Town described as ‘world class’ by Warburton, as reported by the club’s official website.
However, the youngster still has plenty of developing to do and Forest would be taking a big risk making him their new number one at this early stage.
More of the same?
Yet, there’s little reason to believe that Wiedwald would have been anything like an upgrade. The German is a much-maligned figure in his homeland and conceded 51 goals in just 25 Bundesliga appearances last season. In fact, he was beaten a grand total of 13 times in the final three games of the 2016/17 campaign, Dortmund and Cologne putting four past him and Hoffenheim hitting Bremen for five.
Felix Wiedwald
A shaky presence behind one of the top flight’s leakiest defensive units, Wiedwald is far from the consistent ‘safe pair of hands’ that Forest have been crying out for. In fact, he’s only Werder’s number one because Jaroslav Drobny’s performances in the early stages of the season bordered on the parody.
If Forest are to improve a disastrous defensive record, they need better than Wiedwald.
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