Nottingham Forest are closing in on the signing of Benfica youngster David Tavares, according to Record.
Jorge Jesus is not a man to mince his words and, since making a triumphant return to the Estadio da Luz after a trophy-laden spell at Flamengo, one of the most successful and single-minded coaches in the modern era has shaken things up quite substantially.
A Bola reported on Tuesday that Jesus has no place in his plans for the Aston Villa-linked attacker Franco Cervi.
But, while the Argentine’s impending departure has raised eyebrows, given that he has been a key player during four years at the Lisbon giants, few will be surprised to learn that Tavares too has been shown the door.
The 21-year-old attacking midfielder did not make a single Primeira Liga appearance for Benfica in 2019/20, after all, and has now fallen even further down the pecking order after the arrivals of Brazil international Everton Soares and German forward Luca Waldschmidt.
Record claims that Tavares is now expected to follow in the footsteps of Joao Carvalho, Alfa Semedo and Yuri Ribeiro.
Forest’s track record when it comes to signing little-known youngsters from Benfica is perhaps best described as ‘mixed’, however, so Tavares will arrive at the City Ground under plenty of scrutiny.
The hope is that the skilful attacker will add some creativity to a Forest side who built their promotion challenge upon a watertight backline under Sabri Lamouchi.
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