Nottingham Forest are set to sign Moussa Niakhate with the Mainz defender heading to England for a medical imminently.
Forest have already secured three new signings after winning promotion to the Premier League through the Championship playoffs.
Goalkeeper Dean Henderson, versatile defender Giulian Biancone and striker Taiwo Awoniyi have all joined Forest so far this summer.
Steve Cooper’s side are immensely ambitious and need to keep pushing for more signings, with a new defender now on the verge of joining.
Nottingham Forest are set to sign Moussa Niakhate
Forest have been chasing Mainz defender Moussa Niakhate in recent weeks and a deal has been something of a battle.
Mainz understandably don’t want to sell their captain but with one year left on his contract, his exit has been somewhat inevitable.
The Daily Mail now report that Niakhate is expected to have a medical with Forest today ahead of completing his move to the City Ground.
A deal worth around £13million is expected with Niakhate now set to join Henderson, Biancone and Awoniyi at Forest.
The French centre back excelled in France with Valenciennes and Metz before heading to Mainz in 2018.
Now with nearly 150 first-team appearances to his name with Mainz, the 26-year-old has become a star in Germany.
Niakhate is tall at 6ft 3in tall but also quick and capable of playing out from the back as a naturally left-footed defender.
Niakhate may now be brought in to compete with Scott McKenna as Forest’s left-sided centre back, possibly allowing Jonathan Panzo to go out on loan.
Reports from The Telegraph back in April suggested that Everton, Newcastle and West Ham were all keen to sign Niakhate.
Yet it’s Forest who have won the race, demonstrating their pulling power having secured promotion back to the Premier League after more than 20 years away.
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