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Report: Napoli could flog Nottingham Forest flop Nicolao Dumitru for minimal fee

Mark Warburton manager of Nottingham Forest (Reuters)
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Nicolao Dumitru netted one goal in a dismal loan spell at Nottingam Forest – though that’s more than he scored in seven years contracted to Napoli.

Nottingham Forest's Nicolao Dumitru

It’s not often Nottingham Forest and Napoli have something in common. While the former was forced to wait until the final day of the Championship season to secure their survival, the latter is fighting to be the ‘best of the rest’ in Serie A and earn automatic Champions League qualification.

Yet, it’s fair to say even the most ardent Forest and Napoli supporters could agree that Nicolao Dumitru has been nothing other than a waste of money, not to mention time, Il Mattino reports.

Napoli appeared to have pulled off quite the coup when they snatched the Stockholm-born Italy youth international from Empoli at the age of just 18. Yet, in the seven years since, Dumitru has mustered a grand total of nine appearances for the club once graced by Diego Maradona, failing to net even a single goal.

Dumit-who?

And his forgettable, season-long loan spell at Nottingham Forest was his seventh since 2011. After hitting just 21 goals in 132 games for various clubs in the Italian lower leagues, it’s perhaps no surprise that Forest manager Mark Warburton wasted no time shipping him back to the Stadio San Paolo.

At least Dumitru scored a goal in his ten Championship appearances. But he has not shown his face in English football since that dismal FA Cup defeat to Wigan Athletic in January.

Nottingham Forest's Nicolao Dumitru in action with Rotherham's Joe Mattock

And, inevitably, Il Mattino report that Napoli simply cannot wait to get rid of the 25-year-old in the summer – and will accept offers of just over £800,000.

They do have Lorenzo Insigne, Jose Callejon, Arkadiusz Milik, Leonardo Pavoletti and 30-goal Dries Mertens (below) to pick from after all.

Napoli's Dries Mertens shoots