Nottingham Forest have joined the race to sign Strasbourg midfielder Habib Diarra after Premier League rivals Wolves had a bid rejected late last summer.
In truth, another central midfielder is not a requirement which jumps off the page when scanning through the needs and the musts of this Nottingham Forest squad.
It is testament to the strength in depth at Steve Cooper’s disposal that the Forest boss could bring Danilo – so impressive during last season’s survival push – off the bench away to West Ham United on Saturday, a game in which Ibrahim Sangare, Nicolas Dominguez and Orel Mangala all started.
Do not forget about Ryan Yates, Cheikhou Kouyate or the highly-rated Chelsea loanee Andrey Santos either.
But, if Strasbourg are willing to listen to offers for Habib Diarra, Forest may consider this an opportunity to good to miss (FootMercato).
Nottingham Forest chase Habib Diarra
19-year-old Diarra is one of the brightest young talents in a league full of, well, bright young talents. It speaks volumes about his talent and potential that Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United, Manchester City, Aston VIlla and Juventus have all been credited with an interest. Wolverhampton Wanderers, meanwhile, saw a £21 million bid rejected before bringing in Diarra’s former midfield partner Jean-Ricner Bellegarde on deadline day two months ago.
“I can confirm that we have received an official offer from Wolverhampton Wanderers for Habib Diarra. I politely refused it. Habib will not leave,” Strasbourg president Marc Keller told Dernieres Nouvelles d’Alsace.
“I have said it from the start; our strategy is to build a competitive squad and plan for the future. Habib is a boy trained in the Racing Mutest Academy. He knows that he is one of the players we count on.”
Wolves missed out
Forest, then, will not have an easy task convincing Keller to sell. Strasbourg are unlikely to be under any financial pressure to cash in either. Boosted by the monetary muscle of Chelsea after striking up a partnership with Todd Boehly’s Clearlake Capital group.
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