Report: Nottingham Forest to receive £500k bid for midfielder Tesche, could ex-Leeds star Austin be a free replacement?

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Birmingham City are to bid to sign Robert Tesche from Nottingham Forest permanently.

Birmingham City are set to make an offer of £500,000 to sign Robert Tesche permanently from Nottingham Forest, according to The Sun.

Tesche was a regular under Stuart Pearce at Forest, but fell out of favour under Dougie Freedman and was allowed to go out on loan to Birmingham.

A permanent move would make sense, with a recent poll in the Birmingham Mail showing 77 per cent of fans wanted him to be the club’s first priority this summer.

The German was a free agent signing from Hamburg last summer, and selling him on for a profit would be good business if he is not in Dougie Freedman’s plans.

Who should Forest replace Tesche with?

Forest’s options are limited due to a transfer embargo, but a strong candidate should be former Leeds United midfielder Rudolph Austin, who is a free agent, despite the recommendations of Neil Redfearn to keep him at the club beyond the summer.

Austin is a former Leeds captain and is the experienced figure Forest need in midfield to complement the emerging talents of Ben Osborn and attacking instincts of Henri Lansbury.

A return of injury stricken captain Chris Cohen would be welcome, but Forest have learned by now they cannot assume he will stay healthy, and picking up a Championship hardened player like Austin, 30, would be a smart free transfer.

Tesche narrowly edges Austin in three areas, but the pair recorded very similar statistics with their performances across 2014/15.

If they are to cash in on Tesche then Austin could fill his role adeptly, and play a key role for Forest across the course of a 46-game Championship season as they aim to push for promotion.