Mehdi Zeffane worked with Sabri Lamouchi in Ligue 1 and they could reunite in the Championship at Forest – though there’s Premier League interest too.
Nottingham Forest are interested in signing Sabri Lamouchi’s former Rennes favourite Mehdi Zeffane but The Post claims that they will face competition from Premier League newcomers Norwich City.
Lamouchi hasn’t taken long to put his stamp on a new-look Nottingham Forest team. It is just over two weeks since Martin O’Neill was given his marching orders and, since then, six new players have arrived, including Portuguese-based trio Alfa Semedo, Yuri Ribeiro and Tiago Silva.
And 11-time Algeria international Zeffane appears to be the latest target in Lamouchi’s sights.
With Sam Byram and Saidy Janko leaving, plus interest in Tendayi Darikwa, a new right-back could be required at the City Ground and 27-year-old Zeffane is ready and available with his Rennes contract expiring at the start of July.
Clearly, Lamouchi is a big fan of a player who really caught his eye at Roazhon Park.
“He’s a boy who never gave up, even when he was on the sidelines,” Lamouchi told Le Buteur in January.
“He has done us a service and he’ll help us because we rely on him. Mehdi must learn to be consistent in performance but, physically, he’s a powerful boy.”
The Post adds that Fiorentina and Espanyol are also interested in the experienced free-agent, as are Norwich City. But with The Canaries signing ex-Forest loanee Byram from West Ham on Tuesday morning, it seems unlikely that Zeffane will also be making the switch to Carrow Road – unless the coveted Max Aarons is snapped up by a rival Premier League club of course.
For now, however, the door is open for Forest to make Zeffane their seventh signing of the Lamouchi era.
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