Star spotted arriving for medical as Nottingham Forest agree to sign him

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Bordeaux striker Hwang Ui Jo has been spotted arriving for his medical after Premier League newcomers Nottingham Forest agreed a £4 million deal for the South Korea international centre-forward, via Nikos Kotsis’ Twitter account. 

Hwang did not make the short, cross-Channel trip from Bordeaux to England on Thursday, however. He will undergo his medical tests in Greece instead.

The late-blooming 29-year-old will officially become a Nottingham Forest player; Steve Cooper’s big-spending side agreeing a £4 million deal with recently-relegated, cash-strapped Bordeaux earlier in the week. 

Hwang, however, will spend the 2022/23 season on loan at Forest’s Greece-based sister side. He becomes the latest in a long line of players to be transferred from one Evangelos Marinakis-controled club to another; following in the footsteps of Joao Carvalho, Tiago Silva, Miguel Angel Guerrero, Cafu and more. 

Philip Zinckernagel is now wearing the red-and-white of Olympiakos too, after helping Nottingham Forest bring an end to their long spell away from the big time last season. 

When will Hwang Ui Jo make his Nottingham Forest?

Hwang, scorer of 23 goals in the last two Ligue 1 seasons and a player seemingly perfectly suited to Cooper’s high-octane style of play, will be hoping to get a chance to make his mark in the Premier League when he returns from Greece at some point in 2023.

At this stage, it is uncertain whether he will spend the whole of this season at Olympiakos. Or, in fact, whether he could return as early as January. 

And Hwang might not be the only player to arrive at the Karaiskasis Stadium via Nottingham. 

Forest have already agreed to bring in Brazilian playmaker Gustavo Scarpa when his Palmeiras contract expires in December. And Scarpa, according to the Greek media, will be joining Hwang and Zinckernagel at Olympiakos come the New Year. 

“Nottingham Forest have just signed Gustavo Scarpa,” explains reporter Jorge Nicola, while detailing Forest’s interest in another Brazil-based midfielder – Sao Paulo’s so-called ‘new Kaka’ Igor Gomes. 

“Igor Gomes will not renew with Sao Paulo. He has asked for absurd figures (to renew).

“Igor Gomes already has offers to leave Sao Paulo. Interested parties are Porto and Sporting Lisbon. Nottingham Forest also intends to sign him. There are still polls of small and medium-sized Spanish football teams.”